Bordeaux trade confidence high despite low market prices
Wine business consultancy Wine Lister has released its tenth annual Bordeaux study, which shows that average trade confidence when it comes to the region's fine wine has increased to 6.4/10.
This figure is higher than both 2025 (5.9) and 2024 (6.2) and comes despite market prices remaining below release levels. To calculate the confidence scores for Bordeaux, Wine Lister surveyed 74 senior figures across the global fine wine trade, representing over one third of global fine wine revenues – including importers, retailers, auction houses and members of the Place de Bordeaux.
It also looked at the lowest available prices for Bordeaux in the UK and found that recent vintages had seen a decline since their release price – falling 18% in 2020, 27% in 2021,17% in 2022 and 4% in 2023.
As can be seen from the figures, the declines have shrunk since 2021, and this trend continues – the as-yet-unbottled 2024 vintages have stuck to their en primeur price.
Wine Lister believes that these lowest available prices in the UK are a better indicator of the market baseline than global average prices, due to increasing price transparency. By comparison, global average prices appreciated 27% in 2020, 14% in 2021, 17% in 2022, 11% in 2023 and 6% in 2024.
Most of the wines (117 out of 134) in the survey saw confidence increases, with Château Les Carmes Haut-Bron and Château Montrose the only two estates in the top 50 estates to see a decline.
The report put this down to a natural cooling off period after the “significant momentum” these wines have enjoyed over recent years.
The best performing wines in terms of confidence were Petrus at 9.1 (up 0.3), Cheval Blanc at 8.6 (up 0.6), Latour at 8.5 (up 1), Lafite Rothschild at 8.5 (up 0.4) and Margaux at 8.4 (up 0.5).
The consultancy also asked respondents four questions to establish ‘the trade’s view’ on a number of topics.
To the second question – what approaches / strategies are proving most successful for Bordeaux châteaux in today’s changing wine market – 35% answered experiential marketing, 33% oenotourism experiences, 28% style clarity across ranges/vintages, 27% digital communication and social media, and 24% saying on-trade education.
In answer to the question, a merchant and importer for the Americas said that “I believe in strategies that reinforce how Bordeaux is unique, instead of diluting the strengths Bordeaux has.”
Others commented on the importance of “astute pricing strategies”, according to the report.
The full study is avaliable here.
Image Credit – Sergey Nemo on Pixabay
Keywords:
Search
Digital Editions
56-58 Church Walk, Burgess Hill, West Sussex, RH15 9AN
Registered in England No. 6646125. VAT No. 938 4452 95
