Fine wine market suffers biggest drop since August 2023
The fine wine index dropped in April by the greatest amount since August 2023. The Liv-ex May Market Intelligence Report said the industry standard Fine Wine 100 closed down 1.7%, attributing the decline to the introduction of tariffs and the En Primeur tastings.
The report said of the fine wine market: “The introduction of tariffs, combined with much of the trade heading to Bordeaux for En Primeur tastings and the Easter break, resulted in sharp falls across each major index.
“Total trade value fell 30.2% month-on-month, driven by a reduction in trade count, volumes and average transaction value.”
Commenting on the findings, Liv-ex Market Analyst Sophia Gilmour said: “The past few months have shown us that, more than anything, the market is responsive to uncertainty. Wine businesses will continue to exist no matter how high the tariffs land, but while policy is up in the air, buying strategies cannot be optimised. To establish a new equilibrium — one where some of the cost of tariffs is spread through the market — market participants will first need a clear understanding of the costs themselves.”
Of En Primeur, she added: “One interesting turn the market has recently taken is that Asian buyers appear to be making a return, with more of a Burgundy than Bordeaux focus. Last week, Burgundy saw more Asia-based buyers on Liv-ex than any other buying segment.
“This year's En Primeur campaign has not been hugely successful thus far — the 2024s are not exactly flying off the shelves — but many châteaux have made clear efforts. Lafite and Mouton, for example, released significantly below any other vintages available on the market.
“The efforts of smaller châteaux, such as Carmes Haut-Brion who released flat on the 2021 and almost certainly below their own cost of production, deserve to be commended. Still, it will take time to rebuild trust through each step of the supply chain. Private collectors have lost on their purchases over the last few years, and they are unlikely to be persuaded back to buying by marketing emails alone.”
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