Fine wine stays stable in 2018

The Liv-ex Fine Wine 100 index closed 2018 down 0.2% on 2017’s finish after a slow but stable year, while the broader Fine Wine 1000 soared 10%.

Last month, buyers turned back to classics such as Bordeaux and Champagne to see out the year, Haut-Brion’s 2000 vintage climbing, followed by Cheval Blanc’s 2005 and 2009 Cristal.

Going down meanwhile was a mixed bag including the 2008 Penfolds Grange, 2014 Opus One, 2009 Pavie, 2015 Margaux (peaking at almost £12,000 a case) and the 2015 Clos des Papes.

But if the narrower ‘100’ index limped along, the much broader ‘1000’ index gained 10% on 2017 – though its December performance was a little slow after a November peak.

All of the sub-indices in the Fine Wine 1000 have shown growth over the past year.

The Burgundy 150 in particular was very robust and largely carried the overall index with a 34.9% rise.

The Bordeaux Legends 50 was the next best, up 8.3%, The Champagne 50 motored along up 7.8% and the Rhône 100 showed signs of life up 6.9%.

The Bordeaux 500 ran largely flat at 0.6%, the Italy 100 was quieter this year as was the Rest of the World 50.

The new indices Liv-ex introduced last year, the California 50 and Port 50 were up 21% and 3% respectively.

Meanwhile, Liv-ex also pointed out that over the past 15 years fine wine has proved itself a rock solid investment.

Over that period, the ‘100’ and ‘1000’ have risen 213% and 258% respectively. US equities in the same span have gained 143%, UK equities just 59% and Asian equities even lower.