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Fine wine market continues to slide during May

07 June 2023 By Arabella Mileham

The fine wine market has continued to slide during May, according to the latest data from both Liv-ex and Cult Wines, suggesting a phase of “temporary correction” after “a sustained rally”.

Liv-ex yesterday released its monthly report, showing that all of its major indices fell during last month. The biggest decline was seen in the Liv-ex Fine Wine 1000 – a broad measure of the secondary market which charts the price of the top 1,000 wines – which fell 2.4%, to 457. Meanwhile there were also declines in the Liv-ex Fine Wine 100 (2%) and the Liv-ex Fine Wine 50 , which tracks Bordeaux First Growths, down 1.2%.

Cult Wine also reported a slow down across the secondary market.

“The primary cause of the downturn appears to be a temporary correction period, which follows a sustained rally in prices from mid-2020 through the end of 2022,” it said, pointing to the “uncertain” economic backdrop as a contributing factor. Demand was still evident, but buyers were price sensitive, it said, as indicated by the month-on-month swings between positive and negative figures across the different regions.

For example, the platform’s sales of US wines showed their biggest decline in May, following a gain in April, while its Burgundy Index also suffered a drop and Champagne moved only slightly in May, helped by a strong performance from grower champagne, Egly-Ouriet.

Bordeaux prices remained relatively steady, Cult Wines said, with only a marginal decline of 0.11%. However June could see a shake-up once the majority of estates release their en primeur during June. “Signalling potential among producers outside the First Growth category, the 2009 Chateau Calon Segur saw the biggest price jump in May with a 15.3% increase,” it pointed out.

Italy was the only region to see gains, at 0.46%, it said led by were some of the country’s biggest names, including two Gaja-owned wines: Ca’Marcanda Bolgheri 2015 (+17.7%), and Gaia & Rey Langhe Chardonnay 2012 (+13.7%).

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