‘Very strong’ demand for fine wine in Singapore’s secondary market
The appetite for fine wine bidding on Singapore’s secondary market is “very strong,” with prices competitive, collectors up for discovering something new, and Bordeaux still just as popular as ever, Guy Ruston, managing director of Asia-Pacific, Bordeaux Index tells Amelie Maurice-Jones.
In the throes of the Covid-19 pandemic, fine wine sales rocketed in Singapore, with wine lovers snapping up bottles in a few clicks while stuck at home. And the premium wine segment (S$70-plus per bottle) has stayed strong, accounting for 23% of the market in 2023, and climbing by 11.3% in the first half of 2024, according to Wine Importers Singapore. But today, the wine sector is dealing with a drop in consumption and a slowing economy.
Still, retailers and sommeliers recently told the drinks business that demand for fine wine remains robust, with collectors valuing provenance, quality and rarity above all else.
But how is the secondary market faring in the economic downturn?
“Right now there’s a nice mix of demand at the top end, albeit at price levels that are highly competitive in the current market context, along with an ongoing and refreshing enthusiasm to discover newer or lesser-known producers, regions and so on,” said Guy Ruston. managing director of Asia-Pacific, Bordeaux Index.
Bordeaux prevails
“Of course,” he continued, “categories such as top, mature Bordeaux from the ’80s and ’90s are as popular in Singapore as they are anywhere else. The enduring appeal of these wines, across all the major markets, has certainly been one of the more positive outcomes during the recent downturn.”
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Overall, he described the appetite for bidding on the secondary market in Singapore is “very strong – certainly as strong as any of the major markets”.
Bordeaux Index is seeing a strong uptick in bids and offers on its LiveTrade platform from Singapore-based clients. “Collectors in Singapore have certainly been switched on to the buying opportunity that has unfolded during the recent downturn,” he added.
Ruston said collectors in Singapore had been quick to recognise and embrace the ‘buyer’s market’ dynamic of recent years, especially in terms of iconic Burgundy names like DRC, Rousseau and Leroy. These labels have been available in the secondary market at their lowest prices in years.
Desire for discovery
However, adjacent to sales of La Tâche or Latour has been a continuing desire to discover new or lesser-known producers, he added.
In recent weeks, Bordeaux Index has seen demand for everything, from a Sugrue South Downs’ still English Chardonnay. to Bonkers Zombie Robot Alien Monsters from the Future Ate my Brain (sur lie) V2 – to a parcel of old and recent vintages from the Loire Valley’s Clos Rougeard, listed on its LiveTrade platform.
Last year, the trading platform sold a magnum and Methuselah respectively of DRC Romanée Conti – but it was adjusted to 75cl format. Ruston said that the highest-priced bottle ever sold to a collector in Singapore would probably be a recent sale of Chevalier-Montrachet from Domaine d’Auvenay.
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