As France's leading online wine auction and sales platform, iDealwine's annual analysis of auction performance reflects the latest trends and changes in the fine wine market. According to the website's latest annual barometer report, auction prices for fine wines have leveled off, with the average price of wine falling to 152 euros, down 22% from the previous year's average. The average price of Burgundy wine fell by 35% year-on-year, to around 250 euros.
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Burgundy wine auction prices have dropped significantly
The iDealwine Annual Barometer report says a total of 222284 bottles of wine have been auctioned in the last 48 auctions.
Auction prices were heavily influenced by the 2023 fine wine price adjustment, with auction value falling by 11.7% to €33.8 million, with an in-depth analysis of the rankings in each region showing a significant drop in the auction prices of the most expensive wines. The most sought-after auction was Château Romanée Conti, which sold 388 bottles from various collections for 1.5 million euros, with an average price of 3,911 euros per standard wine, a decrease of 15%.
In addition, iDealwine also said in its annual barometer report that some of the top wineries, such as Rayas, Leroy, Auvenay, Rousseau, Roumier, Bizot, Lachaux and Grange des Peres, have seen significant price drops. This decline is not necessarily due to a decrease in demand for high-quality wines, but rather to a reflection of the situation and various economic factors, such as rising interest rates and other adverse macroeconomic factors, which have made potential bidders more concerned about price.
This particularly affected the average price of Burgundy wines, which fell by 35% year-on-year to around 250 euros in the face of highly volatile prices. But Burgundy wines are still highly sought after, and despite a slight diminish in dominance, they still account for 40% of auction sales, and although down 5% from the previous year, Burgundy is still a strong contender at auction. In terms of sales, Burgundy wines ranked second, behind Bordeaux, accounting for 24.7% of iDealwine auctions.
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A bumper harvest in 2022 eased scarcity
In the late spring of 2021, the frosts directly affected the vine planting, resulting in a sharp reduction in yields, with a reduction of about 70 million bottles, and according to iDealwine, the average auction price of Burgundy wines increased by 145% between 2017 and 2022 (from 157 euros to 384 euros). At present, since the current state of production reduction is gradually being restored, and the stock is gradually replenished, it is not surprising that the price of Burgundy wine will fall.
François Labet, president of the Burgundy Wine Industry Association (BIVB), had announced at a press conference that Burgundy's production in 2023 was close to 1.9 million hectoliters, breaking the previous record of 1.8 million hectoliters set in 2018, which, combined with the high production in 2022 (1.7 million hectoliters), increased the production of the 2022 vintage Burgundy wine region by 75% compared to 2021. It can be seen that the production of the latest vintage wine has satisfied the market demand for Burgundy wine to a certain extent, which is conducive to the return of the price of Burgundy wine to the normal level.
Burgundy's 2021 vintage has been severely reduced, which has led many producers to raise prices, and it is precisely this increase in prices that has led to a decline in the global market and a stall in Burgundy wines, which is also reflected in the secondary market. So when you look at the wines and producers whose prices are soaring in 2023, scarcity is the common denominator, and these are especially important for smaller-producing wineries.
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The price has retreated and is likely to continue to fall in the future
Wang Xiaofei (pseudonym), an importer of Sichuan famous wines, once said: "Burgundy is more of a supplement and optimization of product structure, not the main core, and Burgundy's production quota is also limited, so it cannot achieve large-scale production." ”
Mr. Sun (pseudonym), an importer of a famous village in Ningbo, said: "Judging from the current market situation, the price of Burgundy-related products has begun to fall, and the domestic purchase price has dropped significantly compared with the previous year, whether it is a first-class garden or a special garden, and even a drop of 25%-30%, among them, the village-level, wine merchant wine and some commercial brands, some prices have dropped by 50%. Therefore, for Burgundy-related products, when the highest point has passed, it may continue to fall in the future. ”
"Burgundy wine for the whole Asian region, and even in China, there is still a certain demand, in the past few years because of the low production, so the Burgundy wine has been pulled to a higher dimension, but now with the increase in production, the price is bound to fall, but Burgundy wine has always been relatively niche in China, so in the near future, whether it is price or sales, there is not much change." Mr. Zhou (pseudonym), an importer from Guangzhou, said.
Mr. He (pseudonym), an importer from Guangdong, said: "In the past, the increase in sales was due to the increase in product prices, but now with the increase in production and price control, the price of Burgundy wine has gradually declined. Mr. He said that although the current Burgundy market is calling for price reduction, from a domestic point of view, the audience is still relatively small, so even if the price declines, the relevant consumer audience and sales will not increase significantly.
Wu Xin (pseudonym), who is engaged in the wine industry in Shenzhen, said that in recent years, the domestic wine market has declined significantly, especially for some high-end wines, market sales and prices have dropped to a certain extent. In addition, the drinking scene of high-end wine is also affected by the environment, and there is currently a phenomenon such as consumption downgrade, which directly affects the opening rate of high-end wine. "From the perspective of channel inventory, the famous wine is still sufficient, so there is not much demand for the purchase of en primeur, and even if there is demand, the current spot price is not competitive."
"At present, the vast majority of wineries will still reduce prices, and the price reduction is not small, basically the winery will adjust the price to a level that the market can accept, this is also a trend, Burgundy's future development will be similar to Bordeaux." Wu Xin said.