Liv-ex Fine Wine Market Blog

Liv-ex Fine Wine Power 100 - Lafite returns to the top

Liv-ex has released the 2009 edition of the Liv-ex Fine Wine Power 100, a list of the top fine wine brands ranked by their 'power' in the marketplace.  Lafite returned to the top of the rankings this year (replacing DRC, which has slipped down to third), the third time in four years that it has been named as fine wine's most powerful brand.

Each brand is ranked on five criteria: the level of trade they attract on the Liv-ex Fine Wine Exchange; average score from Robert Parker; average price; one year price performance; and weighted production (price multiplied by average production). The wine brands are then ranked on their aggregate score across the five criteria.

Below is the data on the top 100 wines, please click on the image to enlarge. 

Our media partner for this research, The Drinks Business, published a full analysis of the results in its December issue. You can download a pdf of the article here, which includes the full rankings and methodology.

 

Liv-ex named one of the UK's fastest growing companies

Liv-ex is delighted to announce that it has been named the UK’s 59th fastest-growing private company in the 2009 edition of the Sunday Times Fast Track 100. 

The survey, now in its 13th year, ranks non-listed UK companies by their compound annual sales growth over a three year period (in most cases up to Dec 2008). Liv-ex achieved its ranking by recording per annum growth of 76%.

This is the second time in three years that Liv-ex has appeared in the top 100, with this year’s position 40 places higher than in 2007. 

The full list of 100 companies was announced in a supplement published yesterday by the Sunday Times. Liv-ex’s entry is reproduced below. You can download a pdf version of the full supplement here.

"If you are lucky enough to own a wine cellar, you might want Liv-ex to value it. Founded in 1999 by former stockbrokers James Miles and Justin Gibbs, the London International Vintage Exchange operates a business-to-business electronic wine-trading platform. The company charges a commission on each transaction, and says most of its trades involve French wines such as Bordeaux and Champagne, with a value of more than £8,000 per transaction. With some 260 merchants in 22 countries and demand from China driving up prices, sales have grown 76% a year from £5m in 2005 to £27.1m in 2008."

Liv-ex would like to thanks all of its members for their continued support.

Liv-ex 100 up 0.4% in November

The Liv-ex 100 Fine Wine Index is the industry's leading benchmark. The value of the index as of 30th November 2009 was 235.13, a rise of 0.4% on the previous month. The index is up 14.7% year to date, and up 12.2% year on year.

 

First 2008 CNDPs released

As the final part of our recent focus on the southern Rhone (see here and here), we will take a brief look at the 2008 vintage. 

This (somewhat wet) year has been greeted with only limited enthusiasm by the critics. Jancis Robinson MW, states: “Overall the general characteristic of the 2008s in both northern and southern Rhône is that they are decidedly muted - especially after the super-concentrated 2007s.” Although as Robert Parker maintains: “As in every challenging vintage, there are some outstanding efforts”. 

The first two major red wines from the vintage were released earlier this week – Clos Papes CNDP and Beaucastel CNDP.

Both wines are among the most popular of all the wines produced in the southern Rhone and have been released at the same price, approximately £400 per 12x7cl case. 

As you can see from the table below, Parker thinks highly of the 2008 Beaucastel (“one of the candidates for wine of the vintage”) whereas Robinson is blown away by Clos Papes ("'Gorgeous’ was my most frequently used adjective but others were: balanced, seductive, sweet… revitalising, reverberant, and structured”). 

Both wines have their attractions and appear fairly priced – the Clos Papes in particular looks good value when compared to other recent vintages. But with so much great wine having been produced in the region in recent years and the early reports on the 2009s extremely positive, will they find a market? 

 

 *GBP/12x75cl case in bond - Merchant list prices

Those interested in purchasing these wines can find them at  Farr Vintners, Seckford Wines and Bibendum Wine, among others.

The best investment of the noughties?

What was the best investment of the noughties? 

According to the Guardian newspaper, a case of 1982 Lafite Rothschild. 

The Guardian looked at how a variety of investments have performed over the past decade, with Lafite 1982's 876% return beating all others. 

The next best? A fund that invested largely in the shares of gold mines (+684%), followed by the shares of British American Tobacco (+454%).

The data the Guardian used was the Liv-ex Mid Price for a 12x75cl case of Lafite on 31st December 1999 (£2,613) compared to its value on 31st October 2009 (£25,500).

Of course, no other wine has done quite as well as Lafite. The Liv-ex Fine Wine Investables Index, which tracks the price of top vintages from 24 leading Bordeaux chateaux, is up 'just' 176%  over the same period - which equates to around 11% compound annual growth. 

2007 CNDP: the greatest ever?

Is the 2007 vintage in Chateauneuf du Pape the greatest the region has ever seen? Robert Parker certainly believes so. His report, released earlier this month, provided us with a surfeit of superlatives and nine 100-point scores. Parker declares it the “most compelling vintage of any viticultural region I have ever tasted”, and describes the wines as “profoundly concentrated, vividly aromatic, and remarkably fresh, yet substantial, full-bodied, and flawless”. 

Jancis Robinson, who reported on the wines earlier in the year, was also extremely positive, although she steers clear of the hyperbole that engulfs Parker’s report. For her, the southern Rhone is “perhaps the most blessed wine region of all”, in a year when others struggled (most notably the Borderlais). “I was certainly very agreeably surprised by how relatively easy the southern Rhône 2007s were to taste,’ she reports, “the overall quality level was just so high that my scores and tasting notes seemed almost superfluous."

James Molesworth of the Wine Spectator also published his scores on the region in November and again was very enthusiastic, although markedly less so than Parker. 

He describes it as a “clearly impressive” vintage with many fantastic wines, although some producers have gone “over-the-top”. Overall, he feels the 2007 vintage is “just shy” of 2005.

Below we list the top wines from all three critics. It’s clear there is some divergence over which wines performed best. Clos Papes is the only wine to appear in all three lists – although Molesworth was unable to taste Beaucastel, Hommage J Perrin, which is given top marks by the other two critics. Robinson, in particular seems to have headed in her own direction, awarding unspectacular scores to a number of wines top-rated by the other two:  St Prefert CNDP Giraud (17.5), Janasse CNDP Vv (17.5), Barroche CNDP Pure (17) and the Clos St Jean triumvirate (15, 17.5+ and 15.5). 

Those interested in a full analysis of the price trends for Rhone fine wines should view the November Liv-ex Market Report (subscription required).

Prices up 20% at the Hospices de Beaune auction

It looks like we can expect significant price rises for the 2009 Burgundy vintage, after strong results at the annual Hospices de Beaune auction.

Prices at the charity auction were up 20% on average over 2008, with €5.8 million raised in total – the second highest amount in the auction's 149-year history. In the distant past, prices achieved went a long way to setting the prices for that year's vintage as a whole; in more modern times it is seen more as a guide to general sentiment. The auction consists of barrel lots (around 24 cases each) produced from vineyards owned by the Hospices de Beaune and is run by Christie’s auction house. 

Further details can be found in reports by the Wine Spectator and Decanter.

The interesting history of the hospices, including the original alms building (pictured above, now a museum and hotel) can be found on the charity's home page and wikipedia.

Bloomberg TV on the Hong Kong wine market

 

Above is a report by Bloomberg TV on the Hong Kong wine market, filmed at last week's Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair. Liv-ex Director James Miles is one of the those interviewed for the segment. 

Mouton takes the reins

Are the dramatic price increases we have seen for Lafite Rothschild throughout 2009 (with most vintages up 40% year to date) now starting to ease?

Above is a graph of the weekly performance of the First Growths since the beginning of October, as measured by the Liv-ex Claret Chip Index. Over the five week period it has been Mouton Rothschild that has been the top performer, recording a price increase of 5.3%. Lafite places third, just behind Latour. Evidence that the market is starting to find a broader base?

Liv-ex at the HKIWSF

Attending the Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair? Come and find us at stand 3CE32.