The World’s First Wine Bank Launches Cryptocurrency

The Italian Wine Crypto Bank (IWCB), the only global wine bank based on blockchain and cryptocurrency launched today (September 21, 2021) what it calls “the first cryptocurrency in the world entirely guaranteed by wine.”

The coin used is called IWB and this evolutionary utility token is tradable through LATOKEN Exchange on the secondary market, particularly with Italian wines.

Currently, there are 27 Italian wineries that have partnered with IWCB for the IWB cryptocurrency, according to IWCB.

The wineries include: Allegrini, Arnaldo Caprai, Baracchi, Barattieri, Boroli, Casa E. Di Mirafiore, Castello Di Perno, Castello Di Querceto, Elena Fucci, Fattoria La Magia, Incontri Organic Wine, Macchie Santa Maria, Marchesi Mazzei, Mocali, Planeta, Podere Il Carnasciale, Poggio Al Tesoro, Salvatore Molettieri, San Polo Montalcino, Tasca D’Almerita, Tenuta Di Capezzana, Tenuta L’impostino, Tua Rita, Vini Franchetti Tenuta Di Trinoro, Passopisciaro, Sancaba, and San Filippo.

“The big news is that, compared to all the other tokens, IWB can be redeemed by its holder at any time, obtaining fine Italian wines from the IWCB portfolio for the same value paid for the tokens in the IEO”, explains Davide Casalin, Operations Manager of the IWCB.

This means the investment in IWB tokens is fully guaranteed by fine Italian wines, and it will also allow IWB tokens in the future to be used to directly buy wines from producers, according to IWCB bank.

“The Italian Wine Crypto Bank is a winning way to expose the fine wines of our Partner Wineries to the new market of crypto users, which are now over 221 million worldwide, and expected to double in the coming months”, adds Rosario Scarpato, Founder and Director of the IWCB.

#bitcoin #Blockchain #Cryptocurrency #Italianwine #IWB, #IWCB #Wine #ItalianWineCryptoBank #finewine #investmentwine #italy #italianwineries #instawine #winebusiness #winenews #winetrends

Liv-ex 1000 shows that interest in wines from Burgundy, Champagne, the Rhône, Italy, and US has grown rapidly and unexpectedly

New categories of wine are entering the secondary wine market for the first time, with trading up by 70% from 2019.

Bordeaux, which once dominated the secondary market, now has a share of trade less than half of what it was a decade ago. But it hasn’t fallen out of favour – rather, its share has shrunk as the overall market has surged and interest in wines from Burgundy, Champagne, the Rhône, Italy and the US has grown rapidly.

“Last year was a positive year for the wine market, with all major Liv-ex indices showing gains,” said Liv-ex Director and Co-Founder, Justin Gibbs.

Liv-ex (the London International Vintners Exchange) is the London-based global marketplace for the wine trade, where fine wine merchants from around the world buy and sell wine. What happens on the exchange is a reliable indicator of the health of the secondary wine market.

And what it shows is that the secondary wine market is not just booming, it’s broadening.

Fast Market Growth

The number of distinct wine brands traded on Liv-ex last year was up 70%, from 996 in 2019 to 1,420. The total number of wines – including different vintages of the same wine brands – was 8,735, up 72% from the 2019’s 6,367.

The surge has continued into 2021, with March 2021 closing on the biggest month of trade in Liv-ex’s 21-year history – 1,250 distinct wine brands were traded, of which 130 were newcomers to the secondary market. More than £80 million ($109 million) of live bids and offers, are currently available on the market.

The Liv-ex 1000 index was established in 2014 to capture this broadening. As with all Liv-ex indices, it reflects the activity of e Liv-ex membership – a pool of over 500 of the world’s leading wine merchants, who between them represent the biggest and deepest pool of liquidity anywhere in the world.

Most importantly, as a trading and data resource, it is completely independent. And it shows stark changes in the fine wine market, as new wines enter the secondary market.

One Index Alone Is Up 87%

The most striking example of the changing dynamics of the market is the Burgundy 150. It has risen 87% over the last five years, the beneficiary of collectors putting their capital into a new category.

The Champagne 50 has risen 58% over the last five years, driven by the brand power and prestige of the grandes marques Champagnes, widely available stock, global distribution and accessible price points.

The Italy 100 has risen 45% over the past five years, as merchants and collectors discover the relative value to be found in the great wines of Piedmont and Tuscany.

The Rest of the World 60 – which includes the top wines of California, as well as Australian, Spanish and Portuguese wines – has risen 31% over five years. US wines, in particular, are attracting attention; in 2019, US wines represented just 2% of trade by value on the market. That shot up to 7% of total trade last year.

What’s Driving the Trading?

As elsewhere in the economy, technological innovations have swept through the wine industry, transforming the behaviour of both wine businesses and buyers. This past year has seen the launch of new wine tech start-ups, digital wine apps, soaring online sales and virtual tastings, ensuring that people are no longer anxious about buying or trading online.

“These innovations in technology have had a significant impact on buying patterns,” said Gibbs. “As more of the wine trade go digital – with many enabling their customers to access the market using our Automation services – we are seeing increasing diversity in what is traded as collectors are put in the driving seat.”

As a result, the wines brought through Liv-ex in 2020 not only came from the more traditional fine wine regions like Bordeaux and Burgundy, but also from China, Hungary, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Chile, Argentina and more. Prices per bottle also ranged from £4 to £21,000. As the wine world becomes increasingly digital, this broadening trend is likely continue.

The Market Set to Expand Further

Since 2019, US collectors and merchants have been constrained by the US government’s tariffs on the wines of France, including Bordeaux and Burgundy.

“The tariffs have had a singular effect on the fine wine market over the last 18 months, not least for Italy and Champagne whose wines were excluded from the extra 25% levy,” said Gibbs.

But the recent lifting of the tariffs has had a marked effect on activity – leading to a strong kick in demand for wines of all regions.

There are also other reasons to believe the fine wine market will both grow and diversify further.

“The combination of low interest rates and massive fiscal spending suggests that asset inflation will not be confined to equity, commodity and property markets,” said Gibbs. “The fundamentals of fine wine will also be an attractive option to those with cash to spare.”

#livex1000 #livex #finewine #burgundy #champagne #bordeaux #Rhone #USwine #winenews #instawine #winelovers #winecollectors #wineinvestment #digitalmarketing #finewineregions

 

 

 

Burgundy’s Hospices De Nuits-Saint-Georges Wine Auction Takes Place Sunday March 14th

The 60th anniversary of the Hospices de Nuits-Saint-Georges Wine Auction takes place this Sunday, March 14th, in Burgundy, France.

The event will take place at 2:30 p.m. within the grand cellar of Château du Clos de Vougeot and will be streamed live.

‘The auction is strictly limited to 150 people this year, previous between 300 and 350 attended,’ explained Aymeric de Clouet, a wine expert who organizes auctions in Burgundy. ‘Entrants must be registered to attend in person. Social distancing will be required, although in Clos de Vougeot, we have plenty of space.’

Last year’s sales totaled approximately $1.9 million (€1,614,500), a 10% increase from the year before, even though the number of barrels had decreased due to Covid-19 complications. Wine is mostly sold per pièce—or per 228-liter barrel. Last year one such pièce (Premier Cru ‘Les-Saint-Georges’—Domaine Georges Faiveley) sold for a record €24,000 (approximately $28,500, at today’s conversion rate).

A total of 114 barrels are up for auction—112 of red wine and two of white, and for the first time, you can purchase bottles.

Auction proceeds are charitable. The auction is linked to the new Saint Laurent Hospital, which was completed in 2018. However, the history of this hospital spans centuries. The hospices will also donate profits from one barrel of wine—Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru Les Saint-Georges—to the Pasteur Institute.

This year that particular wine is made not from the berries of both young and older vines, but exclusively from older vines of some 70 years. The 12-hectare Hospices de Nuits-Saint-Georges wine estate is part of the hospital, and has its own operating budget. It employs four vineyard workers full time and produces six ‘village’ appellation wines and nine Premier Crus.

‘The …estate and winery are physically linked to our hospital and, every day, they see the twin fruits of their work: the pieces of wine sold at auction and their new Saint Laurent Hospital,’ explained the Hospices director François Poher.

The event has gained popularity – last year the number of buyers had increased 50% since the previous year, and the average price per barrel increased 34% from 2019.

The auction generates local pride in a region salient throughout the world for producing quality vintages.

Overall, the 2020 vintage—which has been named the vintage of confirmation—is what is known as a grand millésime, according to Jean-Marc Moran, Technical Director for the Hospices de Nuits-Saint-Georges Estate. This means a great vintage—one where wines include complexity, notably rich aromas and well-structured and balanced tannins. According to Moran, the 2020 vintage is more structured than the 2019, and more balanced than the 2015 vintage.

‘The main difference with the 2020 vintage is its balance of acidity with alcohol,’ de Clouet added.

All wines are aged in new oak from three different barrel producers. Altogether, these Pinot Noirs are supple with low-key tannins, an excellent acidity/alcohol balance and tastes of plush, rich fruit underlain at times with subtle minerality. This is a well-structured, velvety vintage that provides a rich, creamy mouth feel.

Live Auction:

Practical information to watch the wine auction live: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85605191718?pwd=dldpWmN4bTlTZjRvdzBZQVlOMjJwdz09

Meeting ID: 856 0519 1718 –
Code : 170437

To purchase bottles:

https://boutique.edouard-delaunay.com/en/165-hospices-de-nuits-2021-en-primeur

Auction House Live:

https://magazine.interencheres.com/art-mobilier/60e-vente-des-vins-des-hospices-de-nuits-saint-georges/

www.interencheres.com

 

#wineauction #finewine #burgundywine #onlineauction
#winelovers #winecollectors #instawine #wine #winetasting #winecollecting #vin #frenchwine #charityauction

 

 

Why has confidence in fine wine increased in 2020?

Despite the headwinds of 2020 – tariffs, Brexit uncertainty and the global pandemic – the wine market has remained robust. Today’s post examines what has changed and offers an explanation as to why we are seeing greater confidence in the market during these exceptional times.

Increased liquidity

One of the key changes this year is an increase in market liquidity, which is reflected in the rising value of bids and offers on the Liv-ex marketplace. The total exposure (total value of bids and offers) reached a new record high of £81 million last week – a £30 million increase this time last year.

In recent months, both bids and offers have been on the rise. The bid to offer ratio (i.e. the total value of bids divided by the total value of offers) currently stands at 0.6. Traditionally, a bid-offer ratio of 0.5 or higher suggests positive sentiment.

A broadening market

Another noticeable difference is that more wines than ever are attracting buying interest, taking market share from the traditional strongholds of Bordeaux and Burgundy. As the chart below shows, the wine market has undergone considerable broadening in the past decade. Bordeaux’s share has halved from its peak in 2010 when it accounted for 95.7% of secondary market trade by value. As its share declined, others shined. Burgundy was the first and main benefactor; its trade share rising from 0.6% in 2010, to a record high of 19.7% in 2019. It has dipped slightly this year to 17.4%.

This year, Italy has been the big winner. Having reached an annual average of 8.8% in 2019, Italy now accounts for 15.3% of fine wine trade. As recently highlighted, the US wine market is also developing at unprecedented rate. USA accounted for just 0.1% of trade in 2010. Year-to-date, it stands at 7%.

And then, there is the Rest of the World – an increasingly diverse category. Up from 0.8% in 2010 to 5.9% in 2020, RoW trade so far in 2020 has been led by trade for Australia (1.8%), Spain (1.4%) and Germany (1%), though wines from Argentina, Austria, Chile, and Portugal to name but a few are seeing more and more activity.

What has changed?

So, why are we seeing such increased confidence in the wine market? One well-documented explanation is that investors are seeking to put their money into safer assets in these uncertain times. Historically, fine wine has offered steady returns and low volatility.  Another explanation is that there are simply more market participants than ever before. The number of wine businesses trading on Liv-ex has increased 15% in 2020 alone. This increase in members reflects a growing trend since the Covid-19 pandemic took hold – businesses are looking for web-based solutions to grow their sales.

One such solution is trading automation. Trading automation makes it easier for merchants to list stock for sale, exposing their diverse inventory to an ever-growing marketplace. Regions that once struggled to find a secondary market have been benefitting from the shift to online sales, particularly as lockdowns have closed much of the physical retail. Through APIs, stockholders have been able to list and advertise various wines to a far greater audience, as merchants have connected their customers to this ever-broadening market. Subsequently, wine merchants and private collectors have been able to find less well-known wines from a greater range of wine regions.

Despite an early swoon as the first lockdown took place, the fine wine market would seem to be in a relatively healthy place today. As a tangible, finite asset, it offers stability in a volatile world. It also of course offers a great deal of pleasure for imbibers who are locked down and deprived of their usual wining and dining! And importantly technology, as in so many sectors, has helped merchants from across the globe, to adapt, making wine more accessible and more exciting to all with an interest in it. Combined, these three things have put the wine market on a firm footing in 2020.

Source: Liv-ex

 

 

How will the US Election Impact the Fine Wine Industry?

US voters and political animals of all stripes are nervously/eagerly examining every potential outcome of one of the tensest US elections of recent times but what effect could the outcome have on the fine wine market and tariffs placed on European wines?

Last year the current incumbent of the Oval Office, President Trump, embarked on a trade war with the European Union over subsidies given to Airbus, part of his ‘America First policy’, while the EU hit back pointing to beneficial subsidies the US had given to Boeing.

Both sides began placing tariffs on a wide assortment of products, with the US imposing tariffs on US$7.5 billion worth of EU goods – including wine, spirits and liqueurs – as result of this dispute.

Currently, still wine (not over 14% ABV) made in France, Germany, Spain and the UK transported in containers of two litres or less; Scotch whisky; single malt whiskey from Northern Ireland; and liqueurs made in Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain and the UK that are exported to the US are subject to 25% import tariffs.

An additional spat with France over taxes paid by American digital companies based in France earlier this year threatened to see the tariffs on French wines increased to 100% but this did not transpire in the end.

This has undoubtedly had an impact on the fine wine market. Italy is a country whose wines, principally from Tuscany and Piedmont, have been gaining in momentum for some time now but with Italian wines exempted from the tariffs imposed last year their trade has really taken off.

Liv-ex’s regional indices show the Italy 100 (tracking 10 of the most traded Italian labels on its platform) is up 4.2% over the last year, the second best-performing index over that period and 4.6% on the year-to-date.

Is all of this trade coming from the US? No, the UK is also getting a taste for Italian wines but it’s no coincidence that Italian vino, for which the US has long been a major market, is exempt from these taxes and now surging.

The same is true of Champagne, which was also exempt from extra tariffs. The Champagne 50 index on Liv-ex is the best-performing over the last year and year-to-date (up 6.5% and 6.8% respectively), again this is part of a long-building momentum for this category as a result of a steadily broadening market and not at all purely down to a sudden influx of US buyers.

There has also been increased activity for US wines on the Liv-ex platform in recent months. Towards the end of last month the Exchange reported increased activity for the latest release of Opus One as well as a variety of Napa labels from the 2013 vintage. October was also the best month ever for American wines traded by value on the platform.

It’s not that US buyers have shied away from staples such as Bordeaux and Burgundy completely. US auctioneers are still seeing pretty healthy prices for these wines consigned at auctions but these are wines already in the United States and so not subjected to tariffs.

Likewise Château Palmer’s recent re-release of its remaining 2010 vintage stocks actually attracted a fair amount of interest in the States, so tariffs have not killed trade in French wines dead by any means – it’s just restricted it to those with greater means. And when a bottle of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti is, on average, now 10 times more than a bottle of first growth claret, what’s 25%?

And of course, US buyers can buy wine and store it in Europe, it doesn’t have to be landed in the US for decades, potentially. To assume the tariffs have ruined the fine wine market in the US is not an entirely accurate reading of the situation.

As Liv-ex’s sales director and co-founder, Justin Gibbs, told the drinks business: “It hasn’t proved to be a major dampener on the market this year, given all the headwinds.”

What of the on-going election therefore? At the time of writing, although the Democrat challenger Joe Biden is apparently edging ahead, the whole process is on a knife edge; with everything coming down to the very last votes in key states such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada and Georgia. All too close to call for now.

Biden, seems to stand a fair chance of claiming victory in several of these states, even by the narrowest of margins, which might be enough to give him the victory.

Of course, the prospect of legal challenges and recounts exists behind that as well so nothing can be assumed at this stage. If Biden were to win, however, the immediate logic would suggest an import wind change for fine wine in the US as it could signal the end of these tariffs.

This is the argument, Matthew O’Connell, head of investment at fine wine merchant BI, has taken. He said in a recent report: “The result of the US election is almost certain to have a material impact on the wine market, with the expectation that a Biden government will reverse the European trade tariffs imposed by Trump.

“We have already seen a slowing of trading activity in Italian wine and Champagne, the two regions which have most benefited by being exempt from the US trade tariffs. It is our expectation that we could also see a significant uptick in supply of US wines, which has been lower recently, if US collectors (and indeed US-based merchants) see the potential to re-enter the market to purchase French wines, particularly Bordeaux and Burgundy, without tariffs.”

Biden has been highly critical of Trump’s tariffs, especially those placed on China, which he said have been bad for the American economy. Nonetheless, one should not hasten to imagine he would automatically, unilaterally lift all tariffs that have been imposed, especially on EU goods.

The Democrat candidate has expressed concerns in the past over those EU subsidies given to Airbus among other dealings and has displayed an extremely ‘Buy American’ message in his campaign rhetoric. Not to mention that should Biden win by the slimmest of margins and should the Senate and House of Representatives go against him or end up deadlocked, repealing what Trump has put in place may be politically inadvisable, extremely difficult if not impossible for a good while.

Gibbs, was more cautious when speaking to the drinks business. As he said: “I would be careful on this. The idea that the tariffs are purely a Trump thing is missing the mark. There are other concerns, other wines that drive markets. One might argue that at the very top end people are buying wine because they want it and will buy above the market price anyway [vis the Château Palmer re-release].

“The tariff war with the EU is an American thing not just a Trump thing. It’s a rebalancing of the relationship between Europe and America. Europe has traded on preferable terms with the US since the Second World War and the US has allowed this to happen.”

With the Cold War mentality fading into recent memory, however, this attitude as changed and it is sometimes forgotten that it was Barack Obama who actually began looking at realigning out the trade dynamic between the two blocks.

“I’d be careful assuming that Biden is going to reverse everything,” warned Gibbs.

The hope for European leaders and producers of course would be that Biden has a more free-trade approach and that he would be more flexible in future negations and discussions than Trump has proved.

With this in mind, the outlook for Bordeaux and Burgundy might be rather more positive going into 2021 – also bearing in mind that it’s unlikely anything on tariffs will be discussed by the new administration until the spring or even summer of next year.

On the other hand, one should not imagine that the lifting of tariffs is going to be a magic panacea for these two categories. Burgundy is flagging a little in some quarters because its prices have just hit an upper limit, while many Bordeaux estates continue to be hampered by their en primeur pricing strategies and the issue of stock retention which is likewise putting a cap on prices on the secondary markets, especially for more recent vintages.

A Biden victory therefore, could, of course, bring about a happy end to tariffs which would no doubt be a boon to fine wine trading at large but it would be sage advice to those betting on such an outcome not to hold their breath.

 

Sources:
Drinks Business
Liv-ex