Case of fine wine
Credit: Andrew Brookes / Image Source via Getty Images
(Image credit: Andrew Brookes / Image Source via Getty Images)

Thirty Bordeaux wines featured in Liv-ex’s new ‘Power 100’ ranking of brand performance on the secondary market, compared to 25 in the previous edition. Château Angélus rose to ninth, from 65th a year earlier.

‘Buyers have sharpened their focus to reflect greater risk aversion,’ said Justin Gibbs, Liv-ex deputy chairman and exchange director. ‘They are seeking stable and liquid brands, offering relative value, which favours Bordeaux over Burgundy and California.’

Liv-ex’s Fine Wine 50 index, tracking Bordeaux first growths, still fell 13% in 11 months to 30 November, however.

Focus: relative value in five-star vintages

Fresh data from Bordeaux Index’s LiveTrade online platform (see chart) suggested ‘legendary’ Bordeaux 1989 and 1990 wines have mirrored the price trajectory of counterparts from younger, lesser vintages.

‘In general, we think legendary Bordeaux is particularly underpriced,’ said LiveTrade CEO Matthew O’Connell, referring broadly to top-rated wines from five-star vintages in the past 40 years.

Château Latour 1990 (£10,250 per 12x75cl in bond, LiveTrade) was relatively inexpensive in a wider market context, he said. ‘Think what you can get for that in Burgundy.’

Vaunted Haut-Brion 1989 was one outlier, at £26,000 (12x75cl in bond).

Historic Bordeaux wine legends at auction

Decades-old Bordeaux superstars featured strongly in auctions of single-owner collections in late 2023, though scarcity means trading activity in such wines is limited. Three wines from Decanter’s ‘Wine legends’ series were among the highlights:

• Cheval Blanc 1947 (6x75cl), sold for HK$375,000 (£38,000) – Estimate HK$300,000-$500,000, Sotheby’s

• Mouton Rothschild 1945 (12x75cl), sold for US$200,000 (£158,000) – Estimate $95,000-$150,000, Zachys

• Latour 1961 (3x150cl), sold for £56,250 – Estimate £32,000-£42,000, Christie’s (Sale price includes buyer’s premium)

‘There’s no question that bidders were willing to pay a premium for older wines with an excellent chain of provenance,’ said Charles Antin, global head of auction sales and auctioneer at Zachys, following its auction of collector Peter Hut’s wines.

Liv-Ex-Jan.jpg

(Image credit: Credit Unknown)

The Bordeaux Index view

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com

The performance of Bordeaux as a region has lagged the broader wine market in the last few years. Partly this is due to the outsized performance of regions such as Champagne and Burgundy, but there is no doubt that Bordeaux-specific factors are also at play, including en primeur pricing (in general, with notable exceptions) across the last two vintages failing to drive market engagement.

This means that we see a significant relative value opportunity in Bordeaux, and when the market turns upwards again, this should be an interesting segment. That said, there is a question around the potential catalyst for a re-pricing of the region’s wines when that has been slow to happen even amid the positive market environment of 2021 and 2022 – perhaps such a catalyst would be a compelling en primeur campaign, for example.

It is intuitive that the wines to benefit most (at least as first movers) may be more mature, prime vintages such as 1989/1990/1996/2000, where the quality looks most attractive in terms of relative value. These wines have held up in a tricky 2023 market (collectors step in as soon as they cheapen meaningfully), and we would expect them to lead the market up.

Bordeaux Index

(Image credit: Credit Unknown)
Chris Mercer
Chris Mercer

Chris Mercer is a Bristol-based freelance editor and journalist who spent nearly four years as digital editor of Decanter.com, having previously been Decanter’s news editor across online and print.

He has written about, and reported on, the wine and food sectors for more than 10 years for both consumer and trade media.

Chris first became interested in the wine world while living in Languedoc-Roussillon after completing a journalism Masters in the UK. These days, his love of wine commonly tests his budgeting skills.

Beyond wine, Chris also has an MSc in food policy and has a particular interest in sustainability issues. He has also been a food judge at the UK’s Great Taste Awards.