Demand for fine wine, considered by some as a passion investment, slumped a further 4.7 per cent last month, leaving the market down 7.4 per cent year-to-date.

According to Live-ex, the fine wine broker which runs the Liv-ex Fine Wine indices, prices continued to decline throughout June. First Growth prices have suffered the most in 2012, with the Liv-ex 50 concluding the month at 306, down 8.4 per cent since the start of the year and down 31 per cent year on year.

Summer slowdown

"With the En Primeur campaign already over, summer lethargy took hold of the market earlier than usual and trading was subdued in June," said the Liv-Ex report. Exchange turnover was down by almost 45 per cent from last month, at a time when the new Bordeaux releases usually fire up the market.

Bordeaux usually dominates trade in June, but its market share was just 85.7 per cent: the lowest year-to-date, and ten percentage points lower than June 2011. Meanwhile, other French regions made gains, with Burgundy accounting for 4.7 per cent of trade. Italy’s June performance didn’t quite match May’s highs, but it still held a firm 2.7 per cent of market share, said the broker.

But there were pockets of demand.  Summer’s demand for fizz boosted Champagne’s share of trade. The region increased to a two and a half year high of 4.4 per cent, with the newly-released and admired Taittinger Comte 2002 accounting for 60 per cent of this. Australian wines also fared well in June, taking just over 1 per cent of trade, as did the Rhone.

Praise for Italy

Also Italy continued to generate good news. This was underlined recently by the release of the Wine Advocate report on the Tuscan 2008 and 2009 vintages, which saw a host of big names awarded high scores. According to merchants, this caused a welcome increase in interest from buyers.

Over the last two months, Italy has accounted for 4 per cent and 3 per cent of trade, respectively, way above its 2010 and 2011 average of just 1 per cent. And with wines such as Tignanello and Gaudo al Tasso 2009 available at around £250 per six-pack, the value available is clear.

The index shows that Italy has been one of the best-performing sectors of the market since the start of the downturn (with only Burgundy showing comparable results). Whereas the Bordeaux market (as tracked by the Liv-ex Bordeaux 500) has fallen almost 20 per cent over the past year – with the Firsts, on average, falling 30 per cent – the Super Tuscans have managed to put in a creditable 9 per cent rise in prices.

"With Burgundy and Italy both posting increases in their share of trade this year, merchants and their consumers are clearly broadening their interest outside of the Gironde. It may be wise for investors to do likewise," said the report.