Wine Sales Drop for Second Year as Bordeaux Demand Wanes

(Bloomberg) - Wine sales by leading world auction houses declined for the second straight year as muted collector appetite for recent Bordeaux vintages and a clampdown by China on gift-giving sent prices lower.

Sales by Acker Merrall & Condit Co., Christie’s International, Sotheby’s, Zachys Wine & Liquor Inc. and Hart Davis Hart Wine Co. dropped 15 percent to $278 million in 2013, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The Liv-ex Fine Wine 50 Index tracking top Bordeaux wines declined 3 percent last year after a 10 percent slump in 2012 and a 17 percent drop in 2011. The index rallied before declining since mid-March as collectors shunned Medoc first-growth wines and sought out other areas such as Burgundy, Italy and California. Discounts offered by Bordeaux estates on 2012s relative to their preceding three vintages, sold en primeur, or in barrel, failed to revive demand.

“The market clearly has shrunk,” Paul Hammond, director of London-based IG Wines Ltd., said in a phone interview. “It’s due to the demise of Bordeaux. People feel disenchanted because of recent en primeur campaigns. The auction sector is speculative, and if speculators feel Bordeaux is a bear market, they just don’t bother.”