(TDB) - The on-going strength of California’s leading labels has prompted Liv-ex to launch an index that tracks five of the state’s top fine wines.

The California 50 – much like the Bordeaux 500, Fine Wine 50, Burgundy 150 or Italy 100 – tracks the performance of the 10 most recent physical vintages from the five most prominent and actively traded labels in the secondary market.

In this instance they are: Dominus, Opus One, Screaming Eagle, Harlan Estate and Ridge Monte Bello.

As Liv-ex reported, when tracked from December 2003 it is clear to see just how much ground the wines have gained – with returns of 207% and with extremely low volatility.

In the last 14 years there have been just three negative returns, against six in the same period for the Bordeaux 500.