Lafite price comparison: Trade vs Auction
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We had a feeling they were going to be big - but the numbers coming out of Hong Kong today would have raised even the most reserved of eyebrows.
As prices started to trickle out, amid gasps and exclamation marks from the Twittersphere, the Decanter office tried make sense of the numbers. Can these be right, we wondered.
Why? Well, only two days ago, we were reporting Lafite 2008 rising 20% to an all time high of c.£10,500 a case, thanks to the promise of a symbolic addition to its bottles.
A mere 48 hours later and a case had just sold in Hong Kong for £21,500.
Vintage after vintage, the current market trading prices for Chateau Lafite Rothschild were blown away, with more than 14 examples of lots reaching double their last trade on Liv-ex.
The chart below shows a selection of Lafite case prices – and compares the latest traded figures [in £, courtesy of Liv-ex] against the price they reached at auction in Hong Kong today.
Take a deep breath.
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| Size | Vintage | Recent trade price [£] | HK auction price [£] | Difference [£] | Difference [%] |
| 12x75cl | 2009 | 10,950 | 43,124 | 32,174 | 294% |
| 12x75cl | 2008 | 10,660 | 21,562 | 10,902 | 102% |
| 12x75cl | 2007 | 5,950 | 17,642 | 11,692 | 197% |
| 12x75cl | 2006 | 6,900 | 17,642 | 10,742 | 156% |
| 12x75cl | 2005 | 10,182 | 23,522 | 13,340 | 131% |
| 12x75cl | 2004 | 6,699 | 19,602 | 12,903 | 193% |
| 12x75cl | 2003 | 11,200 | 31,363 | 20,163 | 180% |
| 12x75cl | 2002 | 6,650 | 17,642 | 10,992 | 165% |
| 12x75cl | 2001 | 7,045 | 11,761 | 4,716 | 67% |
| 12x75cl | 2000 | 18,900 | 45,085 | 26,185 | 139% |
| 12x75cl | 1999 | 7,550 | 15,682 | 8,132 | 108% |
| 12x75cl | 1998 | 7,850 | 17,942 | 10,092 | 129% |
| 12x75cl | 1996 | 12,250 | 31,363 | 19,113 | 156% |
| 12x75cl | 1995 | 7,573 | 19,602 | 12,029 | 159% |
| 12x75cl | 1994 | 7,112 | 11,761 | 4,649 | 65% |
| 12x75cl | 1990 | 8,195 | 10,095 | 1,900 | 23% |
| 12x75cl | 1982 | 37,500 | 84,289 | 46,789 | 125% |
| Source: Liv-ex | Row 18 - Cell 1 | Row 18 - Cell 2 | |||
[Prices are for single lots and include buyer premiums. Stock is ex-cellars Lafite in OWC] USD quick conversion: £1000 = US$1595.32 [Exchange rate: £1 = US$1.59532] | Row 19 - Cell 1 |
Written by John Abbott
John Abbott is a digital executive based in Durham, UK. He was editor at Decanter from 2011 to 2015, during which time he helped to launch its sister website, DecanterChina.com. He left to found his own company, the former digital agency Tiger Creative. Since 2018 he has held the position of CEO at international technology start-up, Globeflow.