ShareWine Trends - Q2 2024

Overall Trends

Strong Community

In June, we conducted a major user survey on ShareWine, which gave us much valuable feedback from our users. The enthusiasm for wine and trading on the platform was clear. It’s been a pleasure to read lots of interesting ideas for further development of ShareWine. The fact that so many chose to participate in the survey once again shows that the community around ShareWine is something truly unique, and we look forward to looking further into your suggestions.

A big thank you to everyone who took the time to fill out the questionnaire.

Wine-searcher estimates

76% of the surveyed users emphasized that it’s either important or very important that minimum prices of items are below the wine’s valuation or market value estimate in order for them to place a bid.

Trading data from the marketplace likewise shows that bottles priced on par or above the Wine-Searcher estimate have difficulty attracting both followers and bidders, and rarely achieve a sale.

Some rare bottles, popular vintages, and hyped wines might be an exception to this trend, but as a general rule, sellers on the marketplace should always set minimum prices below the Wine-Searcher estimate. Wine-Searcher should be used as a tool to understand what the wine is retailing for on the primary market.

High Trading Activity

A high level of trades on the marketplace continued throughout the second quarter reaching close to 25,000 bids on the marketplace. This level is 8% higher than Q1 and a full 60% higher than the same quarter in 2023.

Year-to-date, 29% more trades have been completed compared to the same period last year.

Regional Trends

Champagne

The Champagne category has been packed with rare bottles in the second quarter of 2024. Moreover, the Champagne theme auction in May greatly boosted sales in the category, and we saw 39% more trades of Champagne compared to the same quarter in 2023. Year-to-date, there have been 53% more trades with Champagne than at the same time last year.

The great interest in Champagne continues. And as prices have been steadily declining through Q2 on the global market, it seems that the lower prices keep buyers searching for bargains busy. The Champagne50 price index (which tracks the latest 13 sold vintages) has likewise fallen by -6.6%.

Looking isolated on ShareWine, the trend is quite diverse. Some producers and vintages are experiencing declines, while others remain stable or increase in price, such as Bollinger La Grande Année, which has been on an upward trend since the beginning of the year.

Burgundy

The enthusiasm for Burgundy knows no limits on the marketplace, with both red and white Burgundy being traded like never before. In the second quarter of this year, the number of Burgundy trades increased by 8% on ShareWine, and year-to-date, there have been 32% more trades of Burgundy wines compared to the same period in 2023.

Looking at Burgundy demand on the global market, the Burgundy150 price index fell through Q2, following an otherwise flat curve in Q1. Year-to-date, this key price index has fallen by almost -10%.

On ShareWine, the overall trend is also declining prices, however in combination with high trading-activity. Thus, we are curious to follow the third quarter.

Below, you can delve further into the specific price development of four popular Burgundy producers, traded on ShareWine since January 2023.

Bordeaux

Despite a strong second quarter with many trades, the level ended -18% lower than Q1, which also featured an especially successful theme auction in February.

However, exciting things are happening around Bordeaux at the moment creating a window of opportunity for buyers. The en primeur campaign for the 2023 vintage has kicked off. But despite price reductions reaching up to 30-40% on Grand Cru Classé compared to 2022 prices, there is a struggle to sell the large volume of Bordeaux wine on the global market, so the question is whether prices for new vintages need to go even lower to shift the curve.

The global price indices Bordeaux500 and Bordeaux Legends 40 tells a similar story. Both indices have fallen by -4.8% this year, and with continuous price declines more or less since Q1 2023, it seems to us that the bottom of the market has not yet been reached.

On ShareWine, interest in Bordeaux is, however, significantly increasing, and in 2024 so far, there have been 63% more trades with Bordeaux wines compared to the same period in 2023. This, we believe, is influenced by the lower prices making many exclusive wines more accessible to buyers.

Below, you’ll find a closer look at the price development for three vintages of the 5th Cru Classé Château Pontet-Canet, as well as for the 2001 vintage of Château d’Yquem rated 100 points by Robert Parker. The latter exemplifies that even in a difficult market, some cult wines continue to increase in value over time.

Rhône

Many fans of wines from Rhône have had a favorable buying position during the past two years, with prices on the global market falling by -26% (Liv-Ex Rhone100 index). The decline continued with large drops at the beginning of 2024, but through the second quarter, prices stabilized, and even saw a small increase of 0.2% in June, so it will be interesting to see what the coming months bring.

Prices have also been declining on ShareWine, illustrated below for two popular Rhône producers. The number of trades with Rhône wines decreased by -13% in the second quarter of 2024, but the category continues to grow on the marketplace, and year-to-date, there have been 17% more trades with Rhône wine compared to the same period of 2023.

Jura

The number of trades with wine from the Jura region decreased by -13% in the second quarter, and year-to-date, trades have grown by just 4%. The hype and interest in these wines likely has not faded, so the decrease is rather showcasing fewer bottles for sale on the marketplace during the second quarter. We are eagerly following how Jura performs in the next quarter.

Alsace

Alsace has so far been a bit under the radar in our trend reports, but the region's popularity is quietly growing on the marketplace. The wines from Alsace are excellent food wines and as more new producers are entering the market, more wine enthusiasts seem to grow their interest in the region. The number of trades with wines from Alsace increased by 100% in the second quarter, and compared to the same quarter in 2023, there were 67% more trades with Alsace wines.

Spain

A lot of Spanish wine continues to be traded on ShareWine. Year-to-date, there have been 50% more trades with Spanish wine compared to the same period in 2023. The demand is especially driven by a thirst for well-known producers like Vega Sicilia, Dominio de Pingus, Bodegas Aalto, Dominio del Aguila, and Hacienda Monasterio. Below, you can look further into the price development for two popular wines from respectively Dominio de Pingus and Vega Sicilia.

Italy

The trading activity concerning Italian wine is trending positively upward on ShareWine, and year-to-date, 11% more wine from the Piedmont region has been sold, as well as a full 41% increase in Tuscan wines traded compared to the same period of 2023.

Globally, the Italy100 price index on Liv-Ex, tracking the 100 largest Italian wines, has fallen by -2.1% this year. However, the curve has almost flattened and looks more like a controlled decline since 2022, with prices having fallen just -4.8% over the past two years. This stands in sharp contrast to the price index curves for French wine, which have taken significant dips, all showing double-digit price declines over the same two-year period.

Below, we have exemplified the price development on ShareWine for selected producers and vintages. Over the past 18 months, it appears that the price of wines from Tuscany is trending slightly upward, while wines from Piedmont are trending slightly downward.

We look forward to closely following the development in Italy and other regions through the third quarter. Stay tuned for updates in the Q3 report.

Thank you for reading and happy trading!

Mikkel Lomholt

Founder of ShareWine