The Liv-ex Fine Wine 100 index, a key measure of fine wine trading on the London-based Liv-ex exchange, dropped 3.4% in the first half of 2024, highlighting a broader slowdown in the high-end wine market that mirrors similar trends in China.
The decline occurred between January 24 and July 24, 2024, even as global financial markets like the Dow Jones, Hang Seng, and gold prices saw gains, according to Liv-ex’s mid-year market report.
By region, the Liv-ex Bordeaux 500 and Bordeaux Legends 40 indices, which track general and vintage Bordeaux wines, both fell by 4.8% through mid-July 2024. The Burgundy 150 index dropped 9.7%, and the Champagne 50 index decreased by 6.6%.
Despite these declines, Bordeaux maintained its dominance in the fine wine market, accounting for 37.9% of total trade by value on Liv-ex in the first half of 2024. This was down from 40.4% in the latter half of 2023 and 39.4% in the first half of 2023.
Burgundy’s share of total trade by value was 22.7%, up from 20.3% in the second half of 2023 but slightly below the 23.4% recorded in the first half of 2023. This was driven by high-value wines from producers like Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Emmanuel Rouget, and Domaine Armand Rousseau.
While Bordeaux’s value share has decreased, its volume share rose slightly to 34.8%, up from 33.2% in the second half of 2023, reflecting a drop in prices for Bordeaux wines.
Liv-ex’s first-half data underscores the continued weakness in the fine wine market, a trend also observed in China, a major secondary market for fine wines.
Xie Jianjiang, General Manager of Ningbo Bonded Zone Yongyu Trading Co., Ltd., one of China’s top 50 wine importers, described the first half of the year as characterized by “market depression, chaotic prices.”
The Chinese market has been grappling with weak demand, excessive inventory, and inverted pricing for high-end wines since 2023. Some importers have been forced to sell off stock at low prices or even at a loss. This trend has persisted into the first half of 2024.
Zhao Hua, an importer and owner of a wine store in Shanghai under Puxuan Wine Co., noted that Burgundy wines are faring slightly better due to their limited availability. However, Bordeaux classified growths continue to struggle with weak demand and inverted pricing, although well-known brands are performing somewhat better.
China remains a critical market for Bordeaux fine wines. In 2021, Bordeaux exported 40.2 million liters (about 54 million bottles) of wine worth €616 million to China, including Hong Kong and Macau. However, from August 2022 to July 2023, the value of Bordeaux wine exports to China fell to €300 million, as we have reported. The ongoing weakness in the Chinese market is likely to significantly impact Bordeaux and the broader high-end wine sector.
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