‘Tiny’ 2024 vintage may prompt longer-term stability for Burgundy

Despite demand for Burgundy slipping in recent months and confidence at “historically low levels” with prices continuing to fall, a new report from Liv-ex claims there are signs of a “balancing out of sentiment” that will lead to greater stability on the fine wine market.   Liv-ex’s Burgundy Market in 2025, which was published this week, noted that the Burgundy 150 index had fallen further than any other sub-index of the Fine Wine 1000, falling 30.2% over the last two years (even though it remained 16.6% higher over a five-year period). Similarly its market share had called from the 2022 peak of 26% back to 19.3% in the year to date, while its bid:offer ratio was lower than any other sub-index. However, within there were notable nuances worth picking out. For example, it noted a “definitive split” between the whites and reds’ performance, with the whites weathering the downturn better and remaining 4.4% above their January 2022 levels compared to red’s 21.4% fall over the same time period. This was largely due to red wine prices having “further to fall”, it said. Another promising sign was that transaction volumes had risen in 2024, up 6.4% on the same period last year, primarily on the back of regional Burgundy wines. This classification has seen a 33% rise in 2025, up from 6.6% the previous year, compared to a 9.3% fall in the volume premier Cru and 10.8% Grand Cru wines. Meanwhile the average trade value in the year to date was now 25.6% lower than it was for the same period last year. This suggested that the lower end Burgundy prices might be increasingly appealing to buyers. “With the average cost per litre having fallen 36% since 2022 for regional Burgundy, it would appear prices are now at level to entice buyers," it said.

2023 campaign

In terms of the 2023 releases, the “minuscule” 2024 vintage had provided important context for the campaign, as well as “the current and future direction of the Burgundy market”. It argued that with prices for the 2023 campaign remaining flat on the 2022, the reports of a "short-lived flurry at the start of the campaign followed by an abrupt drying up of demand", highlighted that the market had not reacted well.  However, it argued that the tiny crop may potentially benefit Burgundy in the longer-term as prices, and balance sheet pressure, would prompt market participants to "gritting their teeth and committing to clear out stock." "In Burgundy we are seeing this at the lower end. One would imagine that prices of the upper echelons will also reach a point that releases the floodgates," it said. "Early indications would suggest that as the 2023s trickle onto the secondary market, their prices will soften. The average offer of those already available is 11.4% below the ex-London release price. With the prospect of a minimal influx of 2024s to interrupt the clear out, it might well be that come the release of the 2025s, collectors will once again be ready to open their cellar doors".