Fine wine market falls in November ending hopes that the bottom is in sight this year

Last month saw the Liv-ex 100 fall for the eight consecutive month, raising fears that “the hopes of the market finding a bottom in 2023 are fading” – although there was a slight flattening in the trajectory, month-on-month.

The fine wine platform saw the benchmark Liv-ex 100 – the index of the 100 most sought-after fine wines – fell 1.3% in November, closing at 364.3. although the trajectory is less steep than the 1.9% fall recorded in October, which Liv-ex said was “some comfort”, even though the figures for the year-to-date show a 13.2% decline.

All major indices were down month-on-month, the November figures showed, with the Liv-ex Fine Wine 1000 (which reflects the broadest picture of the market) down by 1.5%, “a touch steeper than the previous month’s 1.4%”, Liv-ex pointed out. Among the biggest fallers was the Champagne 50, which fell by 2.2%, less steep than last month’s 2.5% fall, while movement on the first growth was also down by 1.9% month-on-month, flatter than the 2.1% fall in October, and the Bordeaux 500 fell 1.9% month-on-month, an improvement on October’s 1.5% drop.

It continues to be a buyers market as sellers look to shift stock, and while trade value and volume increased during November, there were fewer individual labels traded, “a sign that buyers are narrowing their focus onto the most ‘secure’ brands and wines,” Liv-ex said.

Among the top price performers in the index were wines from Piedmont, Champagne and Bordeaux.