Head of investment at Bordeaux Index, Matthew O’Connell, shares his fine wine trading tips of the week.
- Trading across August was unusually active and Bordeaux focused – Bordeaux Index’s LiveTrade exchange saw double the £m volume of Bordeaux trading it handled last August.
- Younger vintages continue to see greatly increased focus. This rose in July for Lafite and then Mouton but has filtered across much of the Bordeaux spectrum.
- 2018 has been interesting in that the market has for the most part quickly established it alongside 2016 as an outright “prime” vintage, a position 2015 has not consistently sustained. 2018 looked expensive at the time of physical release, but is now trading well with no “overhang”.
- Super Seconds was a difficult segment in en primeur this year and as always this does impede subsequent trading somewhat. However, a number of names including Pichon Lalande and Palmer have very much bucked this trend and seen high demand.
- Elsewhere, while Italy has been a little subdued year to date, trading in Sassicaia and Ornellaia has remained robust, while the new 2018 vintage of Tignanello has seen good secondary market focus given the strong scores and relative value.