Fine wine market ‘stuck in the doldrums’ but Asia offers some hope
A “lacklustre” en primeur campaign, ongoing uncertainty around tariffs and potential trade wars continues to dampen demand for fine wine – but sales to Asia see signs of momentum building.
According to Liv-ex’s latest report May, tine wine continued to see declines throughout the month, although the month-on-month declines was not as severe as those seen in April.
All of the major indices were down, it said with the Champagne 50 the worst hit, while the Rest of the World 60 index (which charts the ten most recent physical vintages for six of the top wines from Spain, Chile, USA and Australia) and the Bordeaux Legends 40 (charting the performance of 40 Bordeaux wines from exceptional older vintages were the top performers, up 0.4% and 0.1% respectively.
Glimmers of hope from Asia
However, there were other signs of hope, with Asian buying continuing to increase, notably with a particular focus on Burgundy, which the report said “might be early indications of a reversal of fortunes” of the subdued Asian market.
Since February, Asian buying has been “relatively buoyant”, it said, taking up “some of the slack” from a wider market under pressure and a lacklustre Bordeaux en primeur campaign, and a US market that fell markedly in March. It argued that Asia’s increased share of purchase value was not purely the result of “a US reduction”.
“While that has undoubtedly contributed to the overall picture, Asian purchase value in May was up 10.1% on April, up 25.2% on the May 2024 level, and 33.7% above the 2024 average,” it noted.
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May also saw an uptick in the number of unique Burgundy buyers in Asia, reaching its highest level in over two years – even as Bordeaux saw lesser demand.
“Asian Bordeaux bid exposure and purchase value remain more volatile,” it said, “This would again suggest that there remains enough Bordeaux available in the Asian market for the time being.”
Commenting on the data, Liv-ex’s head of broking Robbie Stevens said that “Activity from Asian buyers provides some glimmer of hope that a half a decade stock overhang might be finally coming to an end.”
However he noted that overall the market continued to be “stuck in the doldrums” after a lacklustre en primeur campaign and ongoing uncertainty around tariffs and potential trade wars.
“With prices continuing to pull back, opportunities are presenting themselves for willing buyers – covid gains on many indices have all but been wiped out.”
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