As year 2018 comes to an end, WWX team look back at our transactions to find out the bestsellers – in terms of countries and vintage ranges – on WWX. It comes as no surprise that France tops the chart when it comes to most traded countries. 78% of our transactions deal with wines from France. Rest of the transactions come from wines of Australia, Italy, Spain, Germany, Portugal and USA.

Despite coming a long way behind French wines when it comes to total transaction, it is worth looking into the case of Australian wines – after all, it comes second on WWX most traded list. We notice buyer interest spreading across a rather diverse mix of wineries – though chiefly all located within Barossa and McLaren Vale, South Australia. Surprisingly, global Australia’s investable fine wine benchmark Penfolds takes up only 10% of all WWX Australian wine transactions. That, together with the observation that most Australian wines bought come from back vintages i.e. 2010 or before, it strongly hints that consumption is a much more important consideration than investment / reselling potential when buyers purchase Australian wines from WWX.

The leading vintage bracket most traded on WWX this year is vintage 2000 – 2009; with vintage 2009 being the most sought-after vintage. A good portion of vintage 2009 transactions come from Burgundy Grand Cru production; and the rest contributed by Bordeaux cru classe, vintage champagne and Australian reds.

Within France, Bordeaux and Burgundy made up almost 90% of all transactions. It is interesting to note though that the most popular vintage range for Bordeaux and Burgundy differ. When it comes to Boreaux, vintage range 2000 – 2009 triumphs over other ranges – a closer look shows vintages 2005, 2008 and 2009 Bordeaux seeing more activity than the rest. Per bottle trading price of Bordeaux 2000 – 2009 averages HK$3,400 on WWX in 2018, confirming a solid interest among buyers on ultra fine Bordeaux listed on the platform.

When it comes to Burgundy, the most popular vintage range shifts to the more recent 2010 – 2016 bracket. The majority, in this case 40% of WWX Burgundy transactions, comes from vintage range 2010 – 2016. Per bottle trading price of Burgundy 2010 – 2016 averages HK$1,100 on WWX in 2018, consistent with the speculation that buyers focus more on near-term drinkability than long-term investment when it comes to their Burgundy purchase.

To sum up, WWX team sees these data as convincing proof that WWX buyers primarily use our platform to buy wines for immediate or mid-term consumption. Competitive pricings aside, diversity of selection and back vintage availability are no less important. In year 2019, WWX will consolidate efforts in diversifying our selection whilst ensuring that the most popular vintage range and wine regions continue to see attractively priced wines of veritable provenance.

P.S. For those who are curious about the single most traded wine on WWX in 2018… the winner is Haut Brion!