Liv-ex, fine wines resist as markets fall, Giacomo Conterno’s Monfortino sparkles

In the days leading up to when the Covid-19 epidemic was becoming a global emergency, the stock exchanges entered a negative spiral from which they have not yet emerged (on March 12th Piazza Affari closed the most difficult session in its history, collapsing 16.92% of the Ftse Mib index). However, the secondary market for fine wines that the Liv-ex index trend has assessed and narrated has shown once again that it can withstand even the most violent storm. The FTSE100 and the FTSE250, or the indices of the most capitalized companies listed on the London Stock Exchange, began their downfall on March 2nd, while instead Liv-exhttps: //www.liv-ex.com/ has limited the damage. Prices have come down, absolutely; but there has been no panic-driven rush to sell and, on the contrary, has recorded a turnover in line with the previous weeks. The “market price basket” has changed considerably. The share of Bordeaux wines traded on the Liv-ex reached 57.3% last week (from March 6th to 12th; in February it was 45.3%), headed by the 2016, 2010, 2009 and 2005 vintages, which are particularly dynamic, leaving Italy (12.3%), Burgundy (12.2%), Champagne (5.3%) and the USA (3.5%) all falling compared to the previous period.

The good news for Italy is that Giacomo Conterno's Barolo Riserva Monfortino 2013 (who WineNews had the pleasure of meeting a few weeks ago in his winery, the legendary winery of Barolo, in a tête-à-tête that we told you about here https: //winenews.it/it/nel-cuore-di-un-sogno-enoico-viaggio-nella-cantina-mito-di-barolo-giacomo-conterno_409903/, ed.), was not only the most traded wine outright for the week, but it was also the most traded since the beginning of the year. This result was also thanks to Antonio Galloni’s 99-point ranking, raising it to the level of legendary vintages such as 1996 and 1999. And, price level wise, placed it between its 100 points in 2010 (12.780 Sterling pounds per case) and its 97 points in 2008 (7.200 Sterling pounds per case), at 7.800 Sterling pounds per case. The rest of the top five of the Bordeaux wines, on the other hand, all belong to Bordeaux. Carmes Haut Brion 2015 was the most accessible of the lot (1.025 Sterling pounds per case), but also the best performance (+114% from the date of release on the market, and 480 pounds per case), Le Pin 2009 (31.442 pounds per case, +94%), Vieux Chateaux Certan 2010 (2.634 pounds per case) and Mouton Rothschild 2016 (4.714 Sterling pounds per case).