Liv-ex 100 closes 2023 down 14.1%

By James Bayley

Published: 09 January, 2024

After several years of enjoying relative immunity to the surrounding socioeconomic turmoil, the fine wine sector finally succumbed in 2023, suggesting investments are not as fail-safe as they once were.

The Liv-ex Fine Wine 100 Index, which represents the price movements of 100 of the most sought-after fine wines in the world, ended the year down by 14.1%.

In December 2023, the fine wine platform fell once again in December, dropping to a level last seen in September 2021. However, the fall was less steep than the 1.3% decline in November and the 1.9% recorded in October, which will offer some comfort to investors, though the market is still yet to find a bottom.

Read more: British alcohol sales rise in CPTPP countries

Looking at the broader market, the Liv-ex Fine Wine 1000 (which tracks 1,000 wines from around the world) declined by 0.7%, a slower pace compared to the previous month’s 1.5% to end at 414.58. Among the Liv-ex 1000 sub-indices, the Bordeaux Legends 40 saw the most significant decline, dropping by 1.6%, an improvement on November’s 2.2% fall to end at 410.72.

Meanwhile, the Italy 100 enjoyed an increase of 0.4% to finish at 376.83 in December 2023.

The Liv-ex Fine Wine 50 (which tracks the movement of First Growths and is updated daily) dipped by 0.8% month-on-month in December, a notable improvement on its 1.9% fall in November. The Bordeaux 500 (which tracks 500 leading Bordeaux wines) fell 1.1%, matching the decline recorded in the previous month.

During the festive season, the top-performing wines were from Rhône, Bordeaux, Tuscany and Piedmont, with E. Guigal’s Côte Rôtie, La Turque 2018, seeing the largest rise at 11.4% in December. The wine was also one of six displaying a positive one-year performance, up by 4.8% year-on-year.

While many 2018 and 2019 wines featured at the top, they also prominently occupied the lower ranks, including Masseto, Toscana 2018 (-12.5%) and 2019 (-10.3%), Château Figeac 2018 (-10.9%) and Domaine François Raveneau, Chablis Premier Cru, Montée de Tonnerre 2018 (-8.6%).

Though the 100 Index ended the year 14.1% down, the fine wine platform, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this month, is up 285.5% since its inception and remains up 15.5% over five years.

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