Fine wine investors have been left with little to toast this year, after prices of top-end Burgundies and vintage Champagnes fell sharply as demand from Chinese buyers dried up.
The price of Burgundy dropped 14.4 per cent this year to the end of November, according to wine exchange Liv-ex’s Burgundy 150 index. Vintage Champagne fell 9.8 per cent while a broad index of Bordeaux lost 11.3 per cent.
The falls mark a second consecutive tough year for the fine wine market, which was hit in 2023 by higher interest rates — which make assets without a yield such as wine less attractive to investors — and dwindling demand from Asia, traditionally a major buyer of French red wine.