Liv-Ex numbers: Fine wines, first half of 2018 positive for the market

The first half of 2018 has definitely been positive for the fine wines market, as all the main indices of the benchmark Liv-Ex have grown. The only exception was Italy 100, which decreased slightly in the last 6 months. The absolute best performance was Liv-Ex Fine Wines 1000, the index that monitors the trend of 1.000 wines worldwide, and it showed a constant increase of 4.6% at June 30, 2016. This growth is quite impressive, and has been driven mainly by the great wines of Burgundy. Burgundy 150 recorded a 10.75% jump and the best old vintages of the great Bordeaux Châteaux did very well also, as Bordeaux Legends 50 scored + 7.6% (while the Bordeaux 500, which monitors the prices of the last 10 physical years of 50 Châteaux, grew 2%). The indices dedicated to the Rhône Valley (+ 3.4% for the Rhone 100) and to Champagne (+ 4.3%) also grew, while, as mentioned above, the only sour note was the Italy 100. This index, which takes into account the price trend, on the secondary market, of the last 10 physical years of the five great "Supertuscans" (i.e., Masseto, Ornellaia, Sassicaia of Tenuta San Guido, and Solaia and Tignanello by Antinori) and of another five top Italian denominations (Barbaresco and Sorì San Lorenzo by Gaja, Barolo Cascina Francia by Giacomo Conterno, Redigaffi by Tua Rita and Guado al Tasso by Antinori), showed a decrease of 0.85% less (despite the +1.45% recorded in June).

Liv-Ex Fine Wine 100, the benchmark index of the platform, also confirmed the positive performance of the first half of the year for those who have invested in fine wines, established by the price trend of the 100 most sought after wines on the market (for Italy, to date, Sassicaia 2009 and 2013, Tignanello 2013, Solaia 2010, Masseto 2013 and Ornellaia 2010), up + 1.3% since the beginning of the year. On the whole, it is an absolutely positive picture, especially considering the price trend of the safe-haven asset par excellence, gold, which according to data Liv-Ex reported has seen a 1.9% fall in its prices over the last six months.