At the end of last year, the prices of exclusive wines (‘fine wines’) were once again assessed. Once again, prices turned out to be almost three per cent lower. This is according to the Fine Wine 100 index of wine exchange Liv-ex, which tracks the price development of 100 of the most sought-after quality wines on the investment market.
Text: Ingrid Larmoyeur (The Wine Institute) | Image: Unsplash
The fine-wine market is stabilising, but investors are dropping out. Is premium wine again mainly for drinking rather than trading?
What are fine wines?
Fine wines are exclusive and expensive premium wines often bought by investors and traders, not to open but to keep and resell later. They are mostly iconic wines with reputation and scarcity, such as Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne and, increasingly, Piedmont.
Cooled
After years of strong price increases, especially during the corona period, the market has clearly cooled down. Bordeaux and Burgundy have fallen back towards 2020 price levels. The Fine Wine 100 index shows that the pandemic peak has all but disappeared. Causes include tighter regulations, higher costs, less speculative capital and import tariffs that have depressed US demand in particular.
For investors, wine is currently less attractive. This is because its returns lag behind other investments, such as shares or gold. For wine lovers, the situation is different. Less speculation often means more availability and less inflated prices of iconic bottles.
Added to this is a generational shift. Younger wine buyers attach less importance to investment and more to sustainability, authenticity and drinking pleasure. Piedmont and Champagne remain interesting, but mainly as wines to enjoy, not as financial products.
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