Bordeaux Captured 37.4% of Liv-ex Trading Value This Week

Bordeaux held its lead in the fine wine secondary market this week, accounting for 37.4% of traded value on Liv-ex, while Burgundy lost ground and Champagne remained the third-largest region by share, according to the exchange’s weekly market update published Monday.

Liv-ex said Bordeaux also led the market in purchasing, with a 37.4% share of bought value. Lynch-Bages was the region’s most actively traded label, led by the 2005 vintage, which ranked as the top-traded wine of the week by value across the whole market. More recent Lynch-Bages vintages from 2017 through 2022 also traded actively. Opus One 2023 and Cheval Blanc 2015 were the other leading wines of the week by value.

The report pointed to a weaker week for Burgundy. Liv-ex said Burgundy’s share fell sharply from its September average of 24.6% to roughly 15% to 16% this week. In the same update, the exchange also said Burgundy slipped from 18.4% in the prior week to 15.4% in the latest week, indicating a clear drop even as the exact weekly figure was presented in slightly different terms. Domaine de la Romanée-Conti remained the region’s leading name in trading, followed by Leflaive and Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey.

Champagne ranked third with a 13.0% share of trade by value. Liv-ex said Salon represented close to one-third of the region’s trade, while Jacques Selosse accounted for 12.8%. More than half of Champagne’s purchased value came from U.S. buyers, showing continued American demand for that segment of the French market.

The update also showed stronger activity from buyers in the United States and the United Kingdom. Liv-ex said both groups increased their purchasing during the week, with U.S. buyers regaining share of overall buying activity. In the U.S. category, which was largely California, traded value rose to 9.6% from 7.0% a week earlier. American buyers were again the main force behind that segment, accounting for 66.2% of its traded value.

Outside France, Tuscany and Piedmont were nearly level, each at about 6% of trade by value. EU buyers led purchases of Tuscan wines and focused on Sassicaia and Tignanello. UK buyers led purchases of Piedmont wines, with trading centered largely on Giacomo Conterno.

The weekly shifts offer a direct read on where liquidity and demand are forming in the high-end wine market, which can matter for merchants, importers, distributors and other beverage businesses that handle premium French labels. Stronger buying from the U.S. and the UK, combined with Bordeaux’s dominant share, could influence short-term decisions on pricing, stock allocation and release strategy for companies exposed to fine wine.

The data suggest that, for now, Bordeaux remains the deepest part of the market by value, while Burgundy is trading at a lower share than it did in September and Champagne continues to hold a solid position behind the top two categories, driven in part by trading in Salon and Jacques Selosse.