Fine wine news

Lafite Rothschild has managed to retain its position as the most powerful brand in the fine wine market, according to the Liv-ex Power 100.

Compiled by the Liv-ex Fine Wine Exchange and The Drinks Business, the list of the 100 best-performing brands shows that despite falling demand for first growth Bordeaux over the past six months, they are still seen as the best and most powerful.

Climbing the list is Mouton Rothschild, which moves from third position into second on last year, while Haut Brion is next in line having climbed two places.

This means that Latour, once a perennial favourite after Lafite, has fallen from second place in last year's power list to fourth this year.

Determining what makes a powerful brand, Liv-ex and the news provider ranked each wine in five different categories: how much trade it gets on the Liv-ex Fine Wine Exchange; its average score from Robert Parker; its average price; its one-year price performance; and its price multiplied by average production.

Some of the most interesting findings include the rise of Domaine Romanee Conti. Interest from Asian buyers has helped to propel it up the chart in just a short matter of time. Sales of the brand have only recently soared, yet DRC is fifth in the power list. Liv-ex noted, however, that DRC's share of total trade is still modest because of its small production.

Industry professionals might call 2011 the year of the bargain and this is certainly reflected in the list. Super seconds like Leoville Poyferre and Pichon Lalande have climbed 23 and 20 places respectively (they are 26 and 30 in the list).

Meanwhile, Pichon Baron has climbed an astonishing 47 places to 22nd in the list, up from 69 last year.

When analysing the most affordable yet high-scoring wines, Liv-ex ranked Pontet Canet and Angelus (which was recently praised by Robert Parker) as the top two most powerful value brands.

Posted by Helen Jenkins