LIV-EX IS NOT THE REAL MARKET. BORDEAUX WINES COLLAPSED ON THE UK MARKET (AND IT IS NOT BREXIT’S FAULT). EXPORTS OF BORDEAUX WINES FROM JUNE 2015-JUNE 2016 WERE ABOUT 1.7 BILLION EUROS (5.5% LESS) BUT CHINA AND HONG KONG ARE GROWING

Following two years of free falling, Liv-ex, the secondary market index of fine wines that monitors the trading performance of the highest quoted world wine brands (75% Bordeaux wines) closed 2016 on a positive note, crowning 12 consecutive months of growth. But Liv-ex, as Jane Anson, wine writer for the UK magazine "Decanter" (www.decanter.com) has indicated, does not reflect the real market, as the data is filtered. Total exports from Bordeaux to the rest of the world, in the period June 2015-June 2016 (relative to vintage 2014, considered a good year but not great), reached 1.7 billion euros, less than the previous year’s 1.8 billion euros (5.5% less).
The markets of Hong Kong, where the value of purchases from Bordeaux increased from 251 million euros to 276 million euros, and China, from 236 million euros to 300 million euros, are definitely smiling at the most important French wine region, while things are not going so well on historic markets.
In the United States purchases have dropped from 196 million euros to 187 million euros. In Britain purchases literally plummeted, from 208 million euros to 160 million euros, a 23% decrease, which is even more impressive when you consider that in 2012, for purchases concerning the years 2009 and 2010, Britain reached its highest share ever, buying 407 million euros of wine from Bordeaux. From 2009 onwards, however, the cut has always been between 210 million euro and 380 million euros.
The situation can’t be blamed on Brexit since the data refers to the 12 months preceding the vote, when the Pound was holding up quite well in comparison to the Euro. There is, however, another factor that narrates even better what is moving the British market and namely, price categories, which reveal a trend towards wines at the lowest average price.
The only sector that has not registered declines is that of wines out of the cellars ranging from 11.25 to 22.50 euros, which go on the shelves at prices between 20 and 35 pounds. From here on, things start to get worse. Bottles of from Bordeaux companies at prices above 112 euros were worth a total of 52.6 million euros, compared to 75.6 million euros in the previous 12 months.
The share is still much higher than China’s purchases (35.3 million euros), but lower than Hong Kong (130 million euros). And things are not different for the mid-range bottles that cost between 22.5 and 45 euros. Purchases in Britain reached just 12 million euros, compared to 38 million euros in Hong Kong.