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Cult Wines posts more positive outlook for Burgundy and Champagne

Published:  13 January, 2023

Fine wine investment platform, Cult Wines, closed 2022 with a ‘positive end to the year’, the company has revealed, with its Cult Wines Global Index concluding the 12 months with a 20.54% gain.

Cult Wines’ fine wine index closed out 2022 in ‘good form’, the company said. Its Burgundy Index grew 31.31% during the year, making it the top performing region in 2022, while Champagne grew 19.35%, putting it second only to Burgundy.

Grower Champagnes had a good year, too. Of the top performing wines within the category, the top three were all grower Champagnes. Cedric Bouchard, Roses de Jeanne Cote de Val Vilaine posted an impressive 160% increase, followed by Cedric Bouchard, Roses de Jeanne with 124.9%. Egly-Ouriet, Brut Millesime Grand Cru, meanwhile, increased on average 111% – the only Champagne to achieve triple digit growth across more than three vintages

Some may note the contradictory results to those reported by Liv-ex at the end of the year. Back in early December, Harpers reported that Liv-ex’s The Fine Wine Market in 2022 suggested that the ‘Covid era boom’ for fine wine had run its course, prompting uncertainty in the market. This was largely due to the performances of Burgundy and Champagne, which began to tail off towards the end of the year despite a strong start. Many high value Burgundies in particular, became increasingly difficult to sell.

Cult Wines however, looks at a broader basket of goods.

The Tom Gearing, CEO and co-founder, explained that Cult Wines’ “regional Burgundy and Champagne Indices highlight top performers that are not included in the Liv-ex Burgundy 150 or Champagne 50, such as Cedric Bouchard and Egly-Ouriet. The Liv-ex Burgundy 150 is about 40% Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and doesn’t include Arnoux Lachaux, Leroy, Bizot and many of the top performers that are driving positive returns”.

While Cult Wines’ outlook does sound more positive than the Liv-ex report, Gearing also acknowledges that “reasons for caution are greater than they have been over the past couple of years. The differing outlook is partly down to the comparison. The Burgundy / Champagne pace may ease, but just because they aren’t delivering the same gains that they did in 2021-2022, we don’t believe the outlook is negative. The recent high growth is not the ‘baseline’; it was an above-trend rally.

“Overall, we think fine wine can remain positive and provide stability, and is well positioned for longer-term gains.”

Cult Wines concluded that the fine wine markets remained healthy into the year’s end, despite ongoing economic concerns and volatility in wider financial markets. Throughout the year, fine wine prices maintained an upward trajectory, displaying relative immunity against a volatile macroeconomic environment.

Throughout this turbulent time, fine wine outperformed financial markets as they slumped in the final three weeks of December to close out a very challenging 2022. After a period of recovery in October and November, for many sectors in the wider market, December was one of the worst years since the 2008 financial crisis.

According to Cult Wines however, fine wine outperformed major financial indices like the S&P500, the FTSE100 and even other alternatives like gold.

Headquartered in the UK, Cult Wines has offices around the world. The Cult Wines Global Index aims to provide a benchmark measurement of the global fine wine market performance and is powered by Wine-Searcher.






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