Liv-ex has published its concluding report on this year’s Bordeaux campaign.
In it, the trading platform called price differences between the 2016 and 2017 vintages “arbitrary”, before going on to brand strategies an “ineffective way to establish a price” and “an ineffective way to sell wine”.
As a result, sales totalled £45 million for 2017 – just over half what was seen in 2016. Volume sales dropped by 60%.
The report states: “The sales balance was focused heavily toward ‘winners’ such as First Growths and popular brands, while the majority struggled and will weigh heavily on the market for years. On the whole there was a reluctance to pay close to 2015 prices for wines considered to be around or below 2014 in quality.”
Liv-ex said that this campaign could have an impact on the market for years to come. “While some producers understand the importance of the secondary market, many chateaux owners seem determined to prevent any kind of investment by carefully controlling their supply chain and pricing their wines at a level that leaves little to no value for the trade. This strategy is short-sighted. Without a healthy secondary market for their wines to trade up in value, owners will struggle to raise En Primeur prices in the future.”
