Liv-ex: Only Italian wines escapes declines during January
All of Liv-ex’s major indices, except for the Italy 100, recorded declines in January, it has reported – with all indices now down over the past one-year and two-year periods, and 10 of the 18 indices down over a five-year period.
The Liv-ex Fine Wine 100, the industry leading benchmark, fell 0.4% in January to close at 326.1, with the wider market also down, as reflected in the the Liv-ex Fine Wine 1000 (which tracks 1,000 wines from across the world), which fell by 0.9%. The index closed at 362.9, down from its last close 366.2.
Bordeaux did not fare well in January. The Liv-ex Fine Wine 50 (which tracks the 10 most recent physical vintages of the First Growths) fell 1.0%, while the Second Wine 50 was the worst performing index overall, recording a 1.8% decline. Prices of the second wines included in this index rose disproportionately to their quality from 2008-2010 and failed to come down sufficiently in subsequent market downturns – but now, they are falling fast, already below their 2010 peak, and approaching 2015 price levels.
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The Italy 100 was the only Liv-ex index to record a rise in January – up 0.6% following its falter in December. The index has demonstrated resilience to the broader market’s downturn, and with the Italy 100’s bid:offer ratio sticking above 0.5 and currently the healthiest of any index, it would seem that Italy might continue to hold up while others falter.
While the Super Tuscans tend to appear more frequently amongst the week’s top –traded wines, it was largely Northern Italian wines that populated the list of best month-on-month price performers. Notably, only one vintage of Gaja’s Barbaresco – the 2019 – recorded a price decrease (down 0.6%).
It should be noted that after December’s festivities, January saw a notable uptick in activity. Compared to December, trade count was up 12.3%, trade volume was up 37.0%, and trade value was up 13.4%. A more interesting comparison can be made with January 2024, with trade count up 23.6%, volume up 41.5% and value up 13.0% compared to last year.
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