Early Bordeaux 2025 en primeur sales rose on last year’s weak 2024-vintage campaign, according to Geraint Carter of international merchant Bordeaux Index and Miles Davis of Vinum Fine Wines. Farr Vintners’ Thomas Parker MW said sales were up ‘a little’ although below the level of five years ago.

Cheval Blanc 2025 was one success. ‘We sold everything we could get,’ said Carter.

Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, said that the St-Emilion estate released everything it made after especially low yields.

Parker said Batailley and Lynch-Bages were top sellers. Will Hargrove, head of fine wine at Corney & Barrow, cited interest in Lafite, plus Mitjavile and Moueix offers, but also said: ‘Demand has been slower than the vintage deserves.’

Despite high scores, Bordeaux 2025 is entering a world of macroeconomic uncertainty. Carter said en primeur is largely ‘an amplification of what’s going on in the [wine] market, and the market is flat.’

He agreed it’s a great time to be a Bordeaux drinker, with good availability of high-quality vintages, but said 2025 release prices weren’t compelling enough in a tough environment.

He also highlighted the value offered by the well-regarded 2019 vintage (see table), with several years of bottleageing (and storage costs) under its belt.

Liv-ex’s Bordeaux 500 index – one indicator of pricing in the secondary market – was down 16.5% in value over five years to the end of May 2026.

While stable year-to-date, it was back to mid-2016 levels. Châteaux haven’t stood still. For example, Liv-ex data showed Lafite 2025’s release price was up year-on-year but otherwise the lowest of the past decade.

Vinum’s Davis said many 2025 en primeur prices looked relatively reasonable. He said there’s an ‘amazing opportunity’ for younger collectors to build a drinking cellar.

In his view, it’s not an investment market and people aren’t buying to make money, but he added: ‘There will be a time when we look back at these prices and think, were they really that cheap?’

Bordeaux 2025 vs 2019: A pricing snapshot

Bordeaux Index’s Geraint Carter said 2019 is a good-quality vintage that may present value for collectors who are considering alternatives to 2025 en primeur releases.

While some 2019s look more expensive than corresponding 2025s at face value, they have already been aged for several years.

DATA SUPPLIED BY BORDEAUX INDEX/LIVETRADE

The Bordeaux Index view

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com

En primeur own goals

The old maxim is that you can only control what you can control. For en primeur, that boils down to two things: the price and the offer.

Leaving the price to one side, en primeur today is, in essence, a marketing event. Bordeaux enjoys an extraordinary privilege: for a few weeks each year, the attention of the fine wine world is focused almost entirely on the region.

That opportunity should be cherished. Yet the 2025 campaign has felt like a masterclass in how to squander momentum.

Late April’s early releases were followed by two weeks of near silence, before a few releases around the holidays and a flood of big names in the closing stages.

In what was always going to be a difficult campaign, allowing interest to dissipate for weeks at a time was bizarre. For en primeur to succeed, the process has to feel transparent.

Visibility has improved, but buyers increasingly suspect that release quantities are being managed more aggressively, which feeds a damaging conclusion that the wine will be as easy, and quite likely cheaper, to buy in a few years.

Direct consumer engagement is also better, but in a world of abundant choice, the case for greater outreach is stronger than ever.

It’s difficult and expensive, yet it’s one of the few levers still entirely within Bordeaux’s control. If consumers are worth courting, then chances to do so must be seized wholeheartedly.

Now, did someone mention price?

Leroy leads Burgundy mega-sale

Wealthy collectors’ thirst for superstar Burgundy has appeared undimmed at recent US auctions, led by notable rarities from Domaines Leroy and Georges Roumier.

Auction house Hart Davis Hart (HDH) claimed a new record auction price for a single bottle of Domaine Leroy wine after selling the Burgundy producer’s Musigny Grand Cru 2015 for $95,600 (£71,374), including buyer’s premium (hammer price $80,000; high estimate $30,000).

It was from the ‘Orion Collection’ that formed part of a three-day auction marathon in May. All 3,563 lots offered found buyers, generating sales of $14.66m.

‘The market remains incredibly robust,’ said Hart Davis Hart CEO Paul Hart. Leroy’s Musigny is among the world’s most expensive wines, although prices can vary.

From the same collection, HDH sold single bottles of 2011 and 2013 for $41,825 and $35,850 respectively (high e: $30,000 and $28,000). In New York in June, a Christie’s auction of wines from ‘a Silicon Valley pioneer’ was also 100% sold.

Six bottles of Georges Roumier, Bonne-Mares 1971 fetched $100,000, including buyer’s premium (high e: $35,000).

In Hong Kong, meanwhile, rare Bordeaux was prominent as Bonhams offered wines from fashion designer Marie France van Damme.

A bottle of Saute Loup 2010, rarely sighted and made by Pomerol icon Petrus, sold for HK$13,750 (£1,314), including buyer’s premium (high e: HK$9,500).

A bottle of legendary Petrus 1961 fetched HK$81,250 (high e: HK$70,000).

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In general, fine wine prices have continued to stabilise in 2026. ‘Prices have stopped going down and in little niches they have gone up a bit,’ said Geraint Carter, of international merchant Bordeaux Index and the LiveTrade online trading platform.

Major indices at Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, were broadly flat in the four months to 30 April.

Its Fine Wine 50 index, tracking Bordeaux first growths, performed best, rising 0.7%. Miles Davis, market expert at Vinum Fine Wines, with offices in the UK and Asia, reported strong wealthy buyer interest in ‘high octane, rare’ wines, plus resurgent demand in China, despite a ‘dreary’ overall market.

Vinum also sold more Pontet-Canet 2025 than expected as Bordeaux en primeur got underway. Carter characterised the market as ‘challenging’ with bursts of activity.

Top sellers include five-star Bordeaux and middle-aged Champagne (see box, below).

Some LiveTrade bidders have found willing sellers below market prices, yet Bordeaux Index has also sold large format, ex-château stock at surprisingly high prices.

Global consultancy group Knight Frank highlighted a rising thirst for visually appealing, large-format bottles over the past decade.

‘The growing prevalence of glass-fronted wine rooms in prime homes is influencing what collectors buy,’ said its 2026 Wealth Report, citing Liv-ex as a data partner.

Some auction houses have been enjoying a purple patch. Nick Pegna, global head of wines and spirits at Sotheby’s, said: ‘We have really seen a change from September last year onwards. For the year so far globally, we’ve sold 96% of the lots that we’ve offered, which is stronger than we’ve seen for a number of years.’

Collectors are currently seeking out mature, ready-to-drink fine wines at a range of different price levels, he said.

‘There are people happy to buy a £150 bottle of mature Pichon Comtesse, as well as people spending 200,000 [US] dollars on 1870 Lafite, and everything in between.’

However, looking ahead, Pegna echoed other trade members in expressing caution regarding a turbulent geopolitical and macroeconomic environment.

The Bordeaux Index view

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com

First among equals?

Bordeaux’s relative decline in the fine wine market over the past 15-20 years has felt almost inexorable.

In 2010’s China-led buying frenzy, it formed close to 80% of our trade by value; today that figure is nearer 40%.

To traditionalists, this can seem faintly apostatic, but it simply reflects the habits of modern consumers.

The world of fine wine has broadened hugely. Burgundy, Champagne and Tuscany have all improved dramatically in quality, consistency and market prominence.

Consumers now have access to a far wider range of great wines than ever before, and Bordeaux’s dominance was never going to survive unchanged.

Ironically, Bordeaux itself has never been more technically accomplished; the region is producing more delicious and consistent wines across all price levels.

Yet modern tastes aren’t driven solely by quality. Long ageing windows, overt brand orientation and an overall air of seriousness can feel out of step in an age infatuated with immediacy, personality and narratives.

Still, Bordeaux retains unrivalled scale, liquidity and recognition, and a habit of producing extraordinary wines in great vintages. In many respects, it feels less like a fallen empire, more like a ‘first among equals’.

As en primeur rolls on with reduced traction, the challenge is less about reclaiming dominance than showing why the system still deserves consumers’ attention.

Andrew Lloyd Webber and ‘immortal’ Bordeaux lead auction scene

Celebrated composer and musical impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber has auctioned wine cellar treasures via Christie’s in London, raising £517,910 for musical instruments and tuition in schools.

Every lot sold, with a bottle of Château Margaux 1900 fetching £35,000, including buyer’s premium, outpacing a pre-sale high estimate of £7,000. Burgundy’s Domaine de la Romanée-Conti delivered the highest price in the sale, however.

A three-bottle lot of Romanée-Conti Grand Cru 2005 sold for £56,250, including buyer’s premium (high estimate: £45,000).

All hammer proceeds will go to the Andrew Lloyd Webber Programme, which is administered by the Music in Secondary Schools Trust.

It has been another busy period for high-profile auctions generally. In New York, a Sotheby’s auction of ‘immortal’ Bordeaux vintages also saw every lot find a buyer.

Total sales hit $2.1m (£1.55m), $800,000 above the pre-sale high estimate. Flagship lots included two magnums of Lafite Rothschild 1870, a hallowed vintage.

Both came from a well-preserved cellar at Scotland’s Glamis Castle more than 50 years ago. While the first magnum fetched $106,250, including buyer’s premium, the second sold for $200,000 – four times its pre-sale high estimate, Sotheby’s said.

In the UK, Dreweatts auctioned Lord Rothschild’s Stowell Park cellar and again, all lots sold.

A double magnum of Lafite Rothschild 1975 fetched £2,100 (hammer price; high e: £1,500). A six-litre imperial of d’Yquem 1994 fetched £1,250 (hammer price; high e: £800).

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Bordeaux 2025 arrives to mixed market

Bordeaux’s latest en primeur season has arrived, entering a market that’s balancing improved buyer sentiment against macroeconomic uncertainty and plentiful supplies.

Bordeaux’s 2025 vintage has garnered an early reputation as a high-quality, low-volume crop, though barrel samples of the wines were still being tasted as Decanter went to press.

The build-up to this year’s releases campaign was dominated by heightened macroeconomic uncertainty and intense scrutiny of the en primeur system, yet also better fine wine market sentiment.

Geraint Carter, of international merchant Bordeaux Index and the LiveTrade online trading platform, said: ‘There’s a bit more activity around Bordeaux than there was a year ago, and a fair chunk of that is in younger vintages – such as 2019 and 2020 – where prices have [largely] come down and they appear to represent value.’ (See table below)

At Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, the Bordeaux 500 index crept up 0.2% in value in the first quarter of 2026, although it was still down 15.3% over five years.

Sophia Gilmour, Liv-ex market analyst, described the broader market as ‘stable but precarious’.

Despite improved conditions in the past six months, she said: ‘We’ll more than likely bump along the bottom for a while as buyers rebuild their trust in prices and sellers begin to clear the surplus stock.’

Carter said there’s no shortage of young, good-quality Bordeaux. He cited 2019 as a high-quality vintage offering a potential point of comparison for the 2025-vintage campaign.

He suggested that if one assumes that the vintages are of similar quality, 2025 would have to be ‘at a serious discount to current 2019 [vintage] prices’ (see table) to be interesting from an investment perspective.

Release prices above this level may still attract collectors seeking to secure ex-château wines for future drinking pleasure, of course.

Many châteaux have already cut release prices over the past two campaigns, albeit sales for 2024-vintage wines were generally weak.

In the US, ongoing uncertainty regarding current and future tariffs were an additional stumbling block, said Shaun Bishop, CEO of California-based merchant JJ Buckley.

‘If the client doesn’t fully understand the final (delivered) price, then the en primeur release pricing is pretty much moot.’

The Bordeaux Index view

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com

Reanimating en primeur

To the cynic, Bordeaux en primeur 2025 feels like the fifth instalment of a zombie franchise that ran out of ideas in part two: hard to kill and increasingly divorced from reality.

Expectations are understandably muted, with recent campaigns having lurched between the frustrating and the frankly absurd.

And yet, there are still grounds for cautious optimism. Early indications suggest a vintage of genuine quality. In an era of ever-greater precision in vineyard management and cellar technique, it’s a welcome reminder that greatness still rests heavily on nature’s goodwill.

Encouragingly, 2025 also continues a run of smaller vintages which, in isolation, is rarely good news for producers or consumers, but in a market still grappling with excess supply, it may prove helpful.

However, all of this will be squandered if pricing is wrong. So we end with a gentle exhortation to producers: the small improvement in sentiment late last year shouldn’t be mistaken for a full recovery.

Buyer sentiment remains weak and, in this era of omni-crises, only a fool would assume the outlook will surprise to the upside. Today’s buyer is better informed and more selective than ever, and with ample back vintages available and the cost of capital rising, pricing must reflect reality.

Bordeaux isn’t essential, but it can still be irresistible. Price with realism and humility, or risk becoming the sequel nobody asked for.

Auction news and latest releases

Latour 2019 makes its debut

Château Latour 2019 (100pts, Decanter) has been one of several high-profile releases hitting the market for the first time in recent weeks.

Latour 2019 was around £2,790 (6x75cl in bond) in the UK. Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, said the wine was among the more expensive Latour vintages on the market but below the price of Latour 2016, a fellow 100-point wine released to widespread acclaim last year.

Geraint Carter, of Bordeaux Index and the LiveTrade online trading platform, said demand for Latour 2019 began modestly but that the wine ended up selling ‘pretty well’.

Other Bordeaux releases in recent weeks have included Château d’Yquem 2023, with particularly strong scores.

Liv-ex quoted an ex-negociant price of €255-a-bottle, similar to other recent vintages, with an international release price of £3,120 (12x75cl in bond).

Fine wine diary: What's coming up

Taste Bordeaux 2025

Bordeaux’s en primeur campaign will likely dominate the releases landscape in May. In London, Berry Bros & Rudd will host a tasting of Bordeaux 2025 samples on 12 May. Prospective buyers can also read in-depth analysis and exclusive tasting notes from the vintage online via Decanter.com and Decanter Premium, and look out for a report in the next issue.

One-off Oregon wines

A 10th edition of the Willamette Valley Wine Auction will take place in May, showcasing one-of-a-kind, 2024-vintage wines from this US stronghold for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. An online auction and live event on 13 May will be followed by a trade-only sale on 14 May. For more details, see the auction website.

Christie’s in Asia

Christie’s is set to auction the fifth, and final, instalment of rare wines from the cellar of collector Joseph Lau, in Hong Kong on 22 May. It’s part of a series of sales of different collectibles, ranging from fine art to precious jewels, to mark 40 years of Christie’s auctions in Asia.

Clos Vougeot festival and auction

The 18th edition of the Musique et Vin au Clos Vougeot, to be held in June, will feature charity auctions of a range of top Burgundy wines. Sotheby’s said that it will host an online auction from 15 to 30 June, and there will be a live sale and gala dinner on 28 June, the final evening of the festival.

Please note: Release schedules are subject to change.

Decanter’s Market Watch pages are published for informational purposes only and do not constitute investment advice. Wine prices may vary and they can go down as well as up. Seek independent advice where necessary and be aware that wine investment is unregulated in several markets, including the UK.

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Top Super Tuscans – Sassicaia, Tignanello, Solaia, Ornellaia and Masseto – dominate Italian wine trading at Bordeaux Index and its LiveTrade online trading platform (see table), though demand is below a 2022 peak.

‘People continue to like the story [of these wines],’ said Geraint Carter, of Bordeaux Index, noting particular interest in top-rated vintages.

Some prices appeared to have stabilised after rising steeply up to 2022 and falling relatively modestly in the recent market downturn.

Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, said its Italy 100 index dropped 7.2% in value in 24 months to 28 February 2026, but was up 9% over five years.

Tuscany outperformed Piedmont, said Tom Burchfield, head of market intelligence at Liv-ex.

‘Prices for top-end Tuscan wines rose further than Piedmont wines in the upmarket, have been more resilient in the downmarket and early indications are that they might recover more quickly.’

He added, ‘Since August [2025], Tuscan components [of the Italy 100] are up 1.7%, while Piedmont components are up 0.9%.’

No longer overlooked

Carter suggested that further significant price rises for Super Tuscans in the short-term were unlikely, given the ongoing market uncertainty and prior gains. These wines ‘have gone through their transition of being overlooked’, he added.

Burchfield said trading on Italy was ‘quite inconsistent’ in 2026 so far. ‘While there is generally more price stability, we are not seeing buyers really rise up to offers with any haste.’

Tenuta San Guido released Sassicaia 2023 in February. Anna Hickson, brand manager for Tenuta San Guido at UK agent Armit Wines reported high trade interest.

‘Despite the challenging market conditions, Sassicaia continues to be viewed as offering strong value at the premium end of the fine wine market.’

In New York, Lauren McPhate, partner at Tribeca Wine Merchants, described demand for top Italian wines as robust, helped by top vintages, Super Tuscan brand power and also Piedmont.

‘Barolo [and] Barbaresco are always drivers, especially older, harderto-find vintages: 2010, 2016 and bottles reaching back to the 1960s and ’70s are moving with confidence.’

The Bordeaux Index view

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com

Tuscany joins the top table

The transformation of Tuscany’s position in the fine-wine market over the past two decades has been truly impressive.

Once a relative bit-part player in a trade dominated by Bordeaux and, to a lesser extent, Burgundy and Champagne, Tuscany is now a consistent mainstay.

This rise has been driven largely by the region’s aristocrats, whose wines have evolved into luxury brands with broad global demand and strong liquidity – a standing built on critical acclaim, improvements in quality and, crucially, a perception of value relative to Bordeaux.

Performance has matched the narrative. Italian icons such as Sassicaia and Tignanello were leading participants in the bull market of the late 2010s and early 2020s, and have proved resilient during the subsequent correction.

Altogether, this represents a striking repositioning, achieved in no small part as Bordeaux spent much of the decade after 2007 eroding its own competitive advantage.

That said, the dominance of the Super Tuscans is unfortunate given the wealth of authentic quality elsewhere across Tuscany and Italy’s other wine regions, much of which remains criminally under-appreciated.

Recent releases suggest producers are aiming to capture a greater share of the upside.

That is understandable, but the lesson from Bordeaux is clear: push too far, too quickly, and the consumer has a habit of pushing back.

Hospices de Nuits-St-Georges ‘100% sold’

In France, auctioneer iDealwine reported signs of ‘strong early confidence’ in Burgundy’s 2025 vintage after all lots sold in the 65th Hospices de Nuits-St-Georges charity auction on 8 March, raising €1.526m in total.

However, only 80.5 barrels were offered in this year’s sale, versus 100-150 in a typical year, said iDealwine.

This reflected limited yields in 2025 – albeit more generous than in the 2024 vintage.

Fine wine diary: Upcoming releases

Bordeaux 2025 en primeur: Critics and journalists will descend on Bordeaux in mid-April to taste barrel samples of the 2025 vintage. The first en primeur releases normally follow shortly afterwards, and the broader campaign can run across May and June. Stay tuned for analysis on quality and prices.

Judgement of Paris collection: In an ‘almost unheard of’ offering for collectors on 1 May, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art said it will auction a single lot featuring 10 red wines from the famous 1976 Judgement of Paris tasting. The lot includes overall champion wine Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars SLV Cabernet Sauvignon 1973, plus Mouton Rothschild 1970.

Auction Napa Valley: Tickets have been made available for this year’s Auction Napa Valley weekend in early June. Three new packages for the traditional ‘Napa Valley Barrel Auction’ include a VIP tier that offers a winemaker dinner on the prior evening, said trade body Napa Valley Vintners.

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It’s a key year for critical reappraisals of Bordeaux 2016 and many top wines recently featured at a ‘10 years on’ tasting hosted by international merchant Bordeaux Index in London.

While scores for individual wines can’t be prejudged (look for a full report in Decanter’s Bordeaux supplement, published with the May issue), 2016 is widely considered a modern benchmark.

And yet price performance has been modest in a challenging market. A few wines have risen since en primeur release in 2017, notably Pichon Comtesse and Les Carmes Haut-Brion, but some were more than 10% below their debut level, said Bordeaux Index and its LiveTrade online trading platform (see table below).

Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, said the ‘mid-prices’ on 31 out of 45 2016-vintage red wines in its Bordeaux 500 index were below their ‘ex-London’ release.

Its ‘mid-price’ reflects the halfway point between the lowest live offer and highest live bid (in pounds sterling).

Buyers stepping up to the plate

Bordeaux Index’s Geraint Carter described 2016 as ‘sensibly priced’ but also cheaper than some older five-star vintages, such as 2009, 2005 and 2000.

Prices have risen after bottoming-out in 2025, too, echoing wider positive signals in the market after a three-year downturn.

Liv-ex said: ‘With prices stabilising, there is an argument to be made that now is a time to gently lean into the 2016s.’

It highlighted Cheval Blanc and Haut-Brion as wines that looked to have ‘decisively stabilised’ and appeared to present lower risk.

Miles Davis, market expert at Vinum Fine Wines, said the merchant saw more buyers ‘stepping up to the plate’ in general.

While particularly noticeable on top-end Burgundy, he cited recent demand for Pichon Comtesse 2016. ‘I suspect [Bordeaux] 2016s will continue to sell well this year,’ Davis said.

Carter agreed: ‘There’s definitely [buyer] enthusiasm for it.’ With macroeconomic headwinds still buffeting the market, Davis said he didn’t expect prices necessarily to shoot up significantly in the near to medium term.

Still, he said the top wines would likely be more expensive in another 10 years.

The Bordeaux Index view

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com

‘Truly life-affirming’ Bordeaux

The 2016 tasting was a salutary reminder that while wine is often viewed as an asset, it’s nothing without an enthusiastic consumer at the end of the chain.

Tasting wines that so clearly sit among the greats, and seeing them met with genuine delight, is a far more visceral, and frankly more useful, metric than any spreadsheet or analytical framework.

It was fascinating to taste a collection of wines that straddled the stylistic shift from the ‘Parker era’ of concentration, power and majesty to the contemporary ‘infusion phase’, in which aromatics, finesse and energy take precedence.

That framing may be slightly contrived, but there’s no denying that the wines’ precision and clarity make them unmissable.

After strong gains since summer 2025, the market position of the top 2016 clarets looks sensible relative to their peers rather than obviously cheap. That said, buyers today are less motivated by relative value alone, and the vintage’s ‘musthave’ status could yet drive prices higher.

Fortunately, 2016 was a generous crop and consumption so far has been limited, so availability shouldn’t be overly constrained.

Financially, those who bought en primeur may be questioning some choices. Those who tasted the wines, however, were certainly not thinking in such terms; they were congratulating themselves on owning something truly life- affirming.

In the long run, we know which sentiment matters most.

Further signs of market recovery

Headline auction house figures have added to signs of a renewal in interest from buyers at the top end of the fine wine market, despite the ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty.

Sotheby’s said total wine and spirits sales – auction and private – hit US$127.5m (£93.5m) in 2025, up 12% on 2024.

It’s the fourth-highest total in the department’s history, behind 2023 ($159m), 2022 ($150m) and 2021 ($132m).

‘This success [in 2025] has been driven by a truly international buyer base, strong growth in new collectors, and our depth of expertise in presenting landmark singleowner collections,’ said Nick Pegna, global head of Sotheby’s wine and spirits.

Spirits sales reached $21.5m in 2025. Burgundy delivered the highest-priced wine lots, from the Hospices de Beaune charity sale to a 12-bottle case of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Romanée-Conti Grand Cru 1990.

The latter sold for HK$3.5m (US$449,890), including buyer’s premium, in Hong Kong in September (high estimate: HK$2.2m).

Auction house Zachys was also upbeat in its Year in Review: ‘Throughout 2025, Zachys has observed continued and steady market recovery following the post-pandemic slump.’

The average hammer price of top lots has steadily increased, it said. Meanwhile, Christie’s earlier reported a ‘positive shift in collector confidence and participation’ in Asia in autumn 2025, spanning wine, handbags, watches and jewellery.

Sales from live auctions during its ‘Hong Kong luxury week’ in November hit HK$987m (US$127.5m), up 27% year-on-year.

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Greater positivity pervaded the secondary market in late 2025, following a prolonged downturn.

Several variables have the potential to influence 2026 (see box, below), but stability was the watchword in January, rather than predictions of a fresh bullrun.

‘I don’t think prices will fall in the next year, but I struggle to see them going up meaningfully,’ said Geraint Carter, of international merchant Bordeaux Index and the LiveTrade online trading platform.

There may be exceptions, such as ‘pockets of demand’ pushing prices higher on wines with limited availability, he said. Pricing in some segments looked fragile, notably mid-tier Burgundy, he added.

Will Hargrove, head of fine wine at UK merchant Corney & Barrow, said: ‘I think it should be a year in which the market continues to improve. But I certainly don’t see it doing that in a dramatic or explosive sort of way.’

Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, said that it expected the market to ‘bump along the bottom throughout 2026’.

It described this as an opportunity for new collectors to buy and drink fine wine, which would help with ‘building up sustainable long-term demand’.

Two questions

Carter highlighted Bordeaux wines from the 2009 vintage and before as one particular buying opportunity. ‘Prices look favourable [and] these wines are ready to drink, so they are supported by a consumption market.’

Sophia Gilmour, market analyst at Liv-ex, said: ‘As the possibility of broad market recovery becomes more of a reality, potential buyers should be asking themselves two questions – where have sellers been willing to capitulate, and which wines may provide the highest nominal gains?’

Gilmour added: ‘In terms of capitulation, 2021 Bordeaux [wines] have seen their prices slashed, generally below ex-chȃteau release prices.’

For buyers willing to incur higher risk, Gilmour said legendary producers such as Rayas (Rhône), Jacques Selosse or Salon (Champagne) and Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (Burgundy) will be of interest.

Prices for these fell sharply in the recent market downturn – after rising rapidly – and there could be more interesting offers, particularly if merchants need to raise capital.

The Bordeaux Index view

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com

The shape of 2026: The good, the bad and the uncertain

There are several reasons for cautious optimism in our corner of the wine market.

Some wines now look decisively oversold; Bordeaux 2021 is a case in point, as is Lafite, with price reductions re-engaging long-sidelined buyers.

Absolute value also seems to matter more. Super Seconds from solid vintages trading around £60-£70 will appeal to many, particularly when compared with village Burgundy from unproven producers at similar prices.

And categories such as pre-2009 claret, classic Rhône and Super Tuscans with a little age continue to enjoy consumption-driven support.

It’s also worth remembering that consumers typically moderate rather than disappear.

Asia has clearly been in a moderating phase, but there are signs of a gradual re-emergence of demand. But significant headwinds remain.

Investment overhang from the 2000-2020 bull market is still being worked through, with the most heavily speculated regions enduring the deepest corrections.

Finally, structural challenges loom large. An expanding universe of fine wines increases competition, benefiting drinkers but likely diluting returns.

Add climate change, declining consumption and more fragile luxury narratives, and it’s clear some headwinds will persist.

The year ahead feels finely poised. Opportunities will emerge, but a return to dramatic growth still feels some way off.

Latest Power 100 ranking released

St-Emilion powerhouse Château Cheval Blanc, cult Rhône producer Château Rayas and Super Tuscan standard-bearer Sassicaia have been highlighted in a new ranking of fine wine brands.

Cheval Blanc topped the latest Power 100 ranking by Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, with Sassicaia producer Tenuta San Guido in second place.

Based on trading data in the year to 30 September 2025, the ranking offers extra insight into pockets of relative stability in a challenging market.

‘[Cheval Blanc] has not been immune to the downturn of the market,’ said Liv-ex, but a consistent approach to release pricing has helped to build its ‘strong reputation for quality and value’.

Spain’s Vega Sicilia came 16th, after heading the previous Power 100 ranking. While prices remained stable on average, it was particularly affected by US buyer caution in the face of import tariff uncertainty.

Vaunted Châteauneuf-du-Pape producer Rayas was fifth in the new Power 100 ranking, up 49 places on the 2024 edition. Prices rose 2.7% on average, ‘backed by substantial trade’.

The late Emmanuel Reynaud (pictured abvove), owner of Château Rayas in Chateauneuf-du-Pape Rayas wines have long been sought after by in-the-know collectors.

Geraint Carter, of merchant Bordeaux Index and online trading platform LiveTrade, said prices went ‘through the roof’ in the most recent market bull run before dropping sharply – by around 30% – and then rebounding in 2025 to some extent.

In November, inspirational Rayas owner and winemaker Emmanuel Reynaud passed away, prompting widespread tributes, including from Decanter’s Rhône correspondent Matt Walls.

Average Burgundy prices fell by a few percentage points last year, yet there was a slight upturn from June, said international merchant Bordeaux Index and its LiveTrade online trading platform.

Having surged prior to 2023, a number of top-tier Burgundies have undergone relatively big price corrections in a subsequent secondary market downturn. Have prices bottomed-out?

Price performance varied between wines in 2025, with rises and falls, said Bordeaux Index’s Geraint Carter (see table). He highlighted growing positive sentiment around a few blue-chip producers, including Domaine de la Romanee-Conti (DRC), Domaine Armand Rousseau and Domaine Leflaive. They have a track record of trading and some top wines have dropped 25%-40% in price in about three years.

‘Having that market correction is important in making a case for a sale,’ Carter said. Some wines were still double their price 10 years ago, noting ‘longterm holders of these wines are sitting on big paper profits at current levels’.

Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, reported a rising bid-to-offer ratio for wines in its Burgundy 150 index, which also increased 1.1% in value in November. The index was still down 4.4% year-to-date, but Liv-ex said: ‘At the very top end of the market, price stability does appear to be returning.’

In November, Miles Davis, market expert at Vinum Fine Wines, which has offices in the UK and Asia, reported relatively good demand for vaunted names such as Domaines Roumier, Coche-Dury, DRC, Rousseau and Leflaive, as well as opportunities – having recently offered a super-rare, 12-bottle case of Roumier, Bonnes Mares 1995.

On the auction scene, recent results have fostered confidence. ‘There’s still huge global demand for Burgundy,’ said Tim Triptree MW, international director for wines and spirits at Christie’s, noting a well-established secondary market driven by scarcity and thirsty collectors.

Still, there was a feeling among some merchants that patient bidders hold a strong hand. Bordeaux Index’s Carter said that, beyond a small group of blue-chip producers, Burgundy ‘remains a very fragile market’.

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com.

The story in Burgundy, much like the broader market, has become one of recovery; however, it’s important not to lose sight of the fact that prices remain materially down for the year to date. The modest rebound since the mid-summer lows is real but so far concentrated on a narrow set of wines with proven trading histories and, crucially, dramatic multi-year price corrections.

Outside these areas, liquidity remains worryingly thin. Large segments of the market are effectively un-bid, with offer prices that are frequently optimistic to the point of delusional.

Until pricing adjusts, particularly among mid-tier producers, the market will struggle to find broad-based momentum. A little context is essential when considering Burgundy.

Yes, the market is down more than 30% since 2022, but it has still more than doubled over the past decade. Many long-term holders are sitting on substantial paper profits and, in theory, should be willing future sellers.

Yet, on the other hand, the fact that they haven’t sold during three years of declines suggests that their attachment is strong. More broadly, Burgundy is often portrayed as a home for the passionate aficionado, in contrast to Bordeaux or Champagne, where cynical investors tend to predominate.

This characterisation is being tested more than ever, and the outcome will do much to determine the direction of prices in the months ahead.

Coming up

Taste Burgundy en primeur

Various UK-based merchants have scheduled Burgundy 2024 en primeur tasting events for January 2026, open to collectors who wish to taste the young vintage for themselves. Berry Bros & Rudd, Jeroboams, Corney & Barrow and wine club Honest Grapes were among those listing Burgundy en primeur tastings in London. Decanter’s full Burgundy report will be published in the week commencing Monday 19th January.

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 2023 release

Not all Burgundy estates follow the same timetable, and the region’s fabled Domaine de la Romanée-Conti tends to release new vintages once bottled. Its class of 2023 is next up and merchant Corney & Barrow, UK agent for DRC, said it planned to offer the wines from early February 2026 onwards.

Brunello di Montalcino 2021

January 2026 marks the official starting point for the first Brunello di Montalcino 2021-vintage releases, though winery schedules will vary. This is a top-rated year for Tuscany more broadly. A full Brunello di Montalcino report by expert Michaela Morris is coming soon to Decanter Premium online.

An ‘incredible auction moment’

Eye-catching prices for historic French-origin wines lit up the festive auction scene in early December, bringing down the gavel on 2025 in style. All lots found buyers when Christie’s auctioned historic wines from the cellars of Burgundy’s prestigious producer-merchant Bouchard Père & Fils in early December.

Total sales hit almost £2.38m, and the star lot was a single bottle of Bouchard Père & Fils, La Tâche 1886. It fetched £325,000, including buyer’s premium, eclipsing a pre-sale high estimate of £19,000. It’s an example of what can happen when bidders set their sights on a particular opportunity.

‘There was a round of applause when the hammer came down,’ said Tim Triptree MW, international director of Christie’s wine and spirits department. ‘There was spirited bidding,’ he said, adding provenance, rarity and Bouchard’s high-quality reputation combined to create this ‘incredible auction moment’.

Among other highlights, a bottle of Bouchard Père & Fils, Clos Vougeot 1857 sold for £47,500 (high e: £14,000). Individual bottles of Bonnes Mares 1865 and Romanée-St-Vivant 1861 each sold for £68,750 (high e: £15,000 and £14,000 respectively).

Triptree said results were another encouraging sign for the fine wine market in general. Fellow auction house Sotheby’s also hosted a major sale of Lafite Rothschild wines in Paris, including bottles sourced from the Bordeaux first growth’s cellars.

A bottle of Lafite 1870, a lauded vintage, sold for €100,000 (£87,335), including buyer’s premium (high e: €60,000).

Disclaimer: Decanter’s Market Watch pages are published for informational purposes only and do not constitute investment advice. Wine prices may vary and they can go down as well as up. Seek independent advice where necessary and be aware that wine investment is unregulated in several markets, including the UK.

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Fine wine prices were set to end 2025 slightly below the levels of 12 months ago, amid ongoing tricky conditions that emerged in late 2022 following a bullish market upturn.

Yet, average prices have stabilised on Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne since hitting low-points earlier in the year, said international merchant Bordeaux Index and its LiveTrade online trading platform (see table below). It also reported higher year-on-year turnover on some producers’ wines in the first three-quarters of 2025, excluding en primeur sales.

Top-traded producers were: Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, up 35%; Château Lafite Rothschild, up 55%; and Château Latour, up 34%. Geraint Carter, of Bordeaux Index, reported signs of a market reawakening for Bordeaux in general, citing ‘increasingly healthy’ interest in older vintages from the 1990s and 2000s.

Miles Davis, market expert at Vinum Fine Wines, also reported good interest in ready-to-drink, older Bordeaux, contrasted by sluggish demand for younger wines.

Bordeaux 2024-vintage en primeur sales were disappointing, although Latour 2016 – a 100-point wine – sold well on release in March. At Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, key price indices rose slightly in October.

The Fine Wine 50, tracking Bordeaux first growths, edged up 0.6% for a second consecutive month of growth. It was still down 6% year-to-date and 19% over two years. ‘The market is beginning to show signs of stabilisation following a period of sustained price correction,’ said Romain Grudzinski, head of European markets at Liv-ex.

‘Bordeaux indices are improving and bid-offer ratios are moving in the right direction.’ Nick Pegna, global head of wine and spirits at Sotheby’s auction house, said key metrics, such as bids per lot and sell-through rates, notably improved in the second half of 2025.

He said it remained a ‘buyer’s market’, with interest focused on top names and rarity a strong factor. Provenance, too, is increasingly important, said Pegna, as Sotheby’s prepared to auction ex-chȃteau Lafite Rothschild wines, including the lauded 1870 vintage, plus bottles from a Rothschild family member’s private cellar.

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com.

Mind the gap… There was something simple, even liberating, about the market when prices were sliding and everyone knew it. Buyers held the upper hand and if you wanted to get a deal done, it was ultimately up to the seller to acquiesce with as much grace as they could muster.

As summer receded, however, activity began to stir and, with it, some prices nudged up for the first time in more than three years.

With this came ambiguity over who now holds the advantage. Sellers, buoyed by talk of improved trading, have grown markedly less willing to capitulate. Buyers, meanwhile, are convinced that talk of recovery is premature and that their supremacy has longer to unfold. The result is a widening gap in expectations between the two camps. In truth, the market is moving at different speeds.

Mature Bordeaux from the 1990s and early 2000s continues to find support from drinkers, while landmark vintages such as 2016 remain stable. Perhaps more surprisingly, certain younger years, notably 2019 and 2021, now attractively priced, are enjoying renewed interest. Large swathes in the middle, however, remain listless, and the 2022–2024 releases are still more threat than opportunity.

After the 2008 post-crisis low, recovery took a few months. The 2011 correction, by contrast, saw prices drift for more than 18 months before finally finding direction. A similar period of recalibration now seems inevitable.

How long it lasts, and how far sentiment diverges, will likely define the rhythm of the market for the foreseeable future.

Epic US auction features legendary wines

A large single-owner collection spanning vaunted wine world creations has been sold in the US, amid a busy auction scene. US auction house Hart Davis Hart offered the Bowen Collection in early November, describing it as one of the greatest cellars its team has encountered.

Legendary wines were part of the sale. Highlights included six magnums of Napa Valley’s Heitz Cellar, Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 1974, which sold for an aggregate price of $77,675, including buyer’s premium (hammer price $65,000; high estimate $55,000).

From Bordeaux, six magnums of Haut-Brion 1989 sold for $47,800 (hammer $40,000; high e $32,000); six bottles of Lafite Rothschild 1959 sold for $33,460 (hammer $28,000; high e $26,000); one jeroboam (five litres) of Pichon Comtesse 1982 sold for $10,755 (hammer $9,000; high e $7,500); and a magnum of Mouton Rothschild 1945 sold for $38,240 (hammer and high e $32,000).

Merchant Berry Bros & Rudd, meanwhile, auctioned Pomerol stars from Bordeaux’s Right Bank in late October.

It reported hammer prices, excluding a 20% buyer’s premium, and highlights included six bottles of Le Pin 2000, which fetched £18,200 (high e £18,000), plus 12 bottles of Lafleur 1982, which fetched £45,000 (high e £40,000).

As Decanter went to press, French auction house Daguerre was preparing to offer the cellar of Alexandre de Lur-Saluces, ex-Chȃteau d’Yquem chairman, in Paris.

Disclaimer: Decanter’s Market Watch pages are published for informational purposes only and do not constitute investment advice. Wine prices may vary and they can go down as well as up. Seek independent advice where necessary and be aware that wine investment is unregulated in several markets, including the UK.

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• Wine investment: Why the Super Tuscans are bucking the trend in a weak market
• Wine investment: Fine wine prices continue to fall

Bordeaux’s concentration of long-lived fine wines remains a vinous marvel. Even if Burgundy, Tuscany, Champagne and other regions have diluted its dominance in the past 15 years or so, classic claret remains a fine wine staple in the secondary market worldwide.

There is dynamism, too. Behind the centuries-old walls of famous châteaux, fresh approaches married with greater precision in the vineyard and cellar mean Bordeaux’s top wines have arguably never been so good, so often.

And yet, Bordeaux has experienced a challenging fine wine market in recent years. Demand for en primeur releases has been muted and prices on the secondary market have fallen back – albeit potentially yielding pockets of opportunity for eagle-eyed buyers.

This report focuses on Left Bank reds and draws on previous exclusive reporting for Decanter Premium subscribers, as well as fresh data and analysis.

Click here to download a PDF of this guide

Names to know: A snapshot

1855 and all that

The five-tier hierarchy of predominantly Médoc and Sauternes (and Barsac) estates created at the behest of Napoleon III in 1855 offers a framework for understanding Bordeaux’s Left Bank. Owners and vineyard boundaries have changed over time, and brilliant wines exist beyond the ranking, not least in modern-day Pessac-Léognan (Graves) where only Château Haut-Brion featured in the 1855 Classification.

Still, the 1855 first growths – châteaux Lafite Rothschild, Margaux, Latour, Haut-Brion and Mouton Rothschild (upgraded in 1973) – are the most searched-for Left Bank Bordeaux wines on Wine-Searcher.com. The next 10 estates in Wine-Searcher’s popularity rank are:

• Château d’Yquem (Sauternes, premier cru supérieur)

• Château Lynch-Bages (Pauillac, fifth growth)

• Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac, fifth growth)

• Château Léoville-Las-Cases (St-Julien, second growth)

• Château Montrose (St-Estèphe, second growth)

• Château Cos d’Estournel (St-Estèphe, second growth)

• Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande (Pauillac, second growth)

• Château Palmer (Margaux, third growth)

• Château La Mission Haut-Brion (Pessac-Léognan, Cru Classé de Graves)

• Château Pichon-Longueville Baron (Pauillac, second growth)

This non-exhaustive list features so-called ‘super seconds’: prominent second growths known to match first growth quality in certain years. Château Montrose and Château Léoville-Las Cases are two examples.

There is another group known as the ‘flying fifths’ – fifth-growth properties that likewise now regularly outperform their supposedly lower classification. Lynch-Bages is one example listed above, but this group also includes Château Pontet-Canet and Château Grand-Puy Lacoste.

This is inevitably the tip of the iceberg. Other popular properties – such as châteaux Léoville-Barton, Rauzan-Ségla, Calon Ségur, Batailley or Beychevelle – belong on any serious collector’s radar.

Don’t forget the whites

There are also superb, cellar-worthy dry whites – Pessac and Graves are particularly well-renowned for these – and a new Médoc Blanc appellation is currently in the works.

In Sauternes and Barsac, noble rot fuels enthralling sweet wines balanced by refreshing acidity. Château d’Yquem is an icon, with Climens, Coutet, Lafaurie-Peyraguey, Suduiraut, Guiraud, Raymond Lafon and Rieussec among other top names.

Many of these estates have also begun producing dry wines as the popularity of their pudding wines (regrettably) continues to wane.

Star vintages on the Left Bank

Headline vintage ratings obviously don’t tell the full story with so many other factors in-play, and each year has its own time-stamped characteristics. Caveats aside, five-star Left Bank vintages in the past 30 years include:

• 2016

• 2010

• 2009

• 2005

• 1996

Other years to know include 2000, plus a trilogy of 1990, 1989 and 1988. Meanwhile, 1982 is a renowned blockbuster. Peaks can be seen in other years, too. The late Steven Spurrier once wrote admiringly of 1985, and there is folklore around Bordeaux’s ‘five’ vintages more broadly.

‘Years ending in five – with the notable exception of 1965 – have always produced top-quality wines,’ reported biodynamic third-growth Château Palmer after re-releasing its 2015-vintage grand vin (97pts) in September 2025.

But some years fly under the radar. Charles Curtis MW recently found plenty of charm in Bordeaux 2006 wines in a review for Decanter Premium – a reminder that so-called ‘off vintages’, or less powerful years, can offer plenty of drinking pleasure.

Bordeaux 2022 hits high notes

Several younger vintages, including 2022, 2020 and 2019, have offered strong peaks. Decanter’s Bordeaux editor, Georgie Hindle, recently re-tasted the class of the 2022 wine in bottle, giving Smith Haut Lafitte, Lafite Rothschild and Les Carmes Haut-Brion perfect 100-point scores.

‘Deep and evocative, this bursts with blackcurrants, milk chocolate and floral perfume,’ said Hindle of Château Smith Haut Lafitte 2022, adding the wine showcases ‘Cabernet’s structure, Merlot’s generosity and cool spiced fruit’.

Left Bank Legends Gallery

These three Decanter Wine Legends would likely be on the wish-list of anyone aspiring to create a cellar of Bordeaux greats. Wine-Searcher.com’s worldwide average retail price in October 2025 is given, but pricing on such old and rare wines can vary according to condition, provenance and, if at auction, the thirst of bidders in the room.

Château Lafite Rothschild 1982

Bordeaux 1982 combined quality with volume, famously earning early praise from the then young critic Robert Parker Jr. ‘A wondrous wine that delivers such joy,’ wrote Hindle, of Lafite 1982, after tasting 45 Bordeaux 1982 wines side-by-side in 2023 for Decanter Premium. Guide price: $3,555 per bottle (ex-tax).

Château Latour 1961

A relatively small harvest, following early-season frost, this was an ‘incredibly concentrated’ vintage at Latour, wrote Decanter’s Stephen Brook for the Wine Legend series. ‘It was one of [leading expert] Michael Broadbent’s rare six-star wines,’ he added. Guide price: $5,557 per bottle (ex-tax).

Château Mouton Rothschild 1945

Mouton 1945 was a magical and highly symbolic vintage. ‘There is clear power on display even at 74 years old,’ wrote Bordeaux expert Jane Anson for Decanter in 2019. Artist Philippe Jullian’s ‘Année de la Victoire’ label marks the end of the Second World War. Guide price: $20,945 per bottle (ex-tax).

Buying the wines

Critics descend on Bordeaux to taste barrel samples of the new vintage in April, with many wines then released ‘en primeur’, on a futures basis, over the following weeks. At its best, en primeur is an opportunity to secure wines direct from source (ex-château) in varying formats, at an advantageous price. However, some wines from recent vintages have become cheaper in the months and years following their release.

Some 2010 vintage wines remain cheaper than they were en primeur, having debuted at high prices just before a China-led market boom went bust in mid-2011. Concerns about the en primeur model are not new. Eyebrows rose as high as the prices when the opulent 2005s, 2009s and then the 2010s hit the market. With both the initial investment and longer-term returns looking increasingly disproportionate, commentators have long been talking about the financial sense of en primeur.

After surveying its London club members for a trends report, fine wine club 67 Pall Mall recently highlighted buyer fatigue with the concept – and not only for Bordeaux wines. It said: ‘Members feel that prices have become inflated to the point where it no longer makes sense to buy wines on release, as mature wines can often be found on the secondary market for a similar price or cheaper.’

Nevertheless, en primeur remains a key fixture in the calendar. And it’s worth noting that each estate has its own market context – such as back-vintage availability. In a bid to regain market attention and good will, top Bordeaux châteaux have also significantly cut en primeur prices in the past two campaigns.

Château Lafite 2024 (96pts) was offered by Bordeaux merchant houses (négociants) at €288 per bottle, and then at £1,713 – 6x75cl IB (in bond) – in the UK, making it the cheapest Lafite grand vin available on the market. It found buyers, according to UK merchants, although overall consumer demand for 2024 vintage en primeur wines remained muted.

Beyond en primeur

Estate release strategies also vary. Château Palmer’s N-10 programme involves a second, grand vin release 10 years after harvest. Château Latour left the en primeur system altogether in 2012. Its 2017 vintage is currently the youngest Latour grand vin on the market.

One can also keep an eye out for ex- château releases via reputable merchants. Offers of pristine stock from the secondary market are another source. Options include trading platforms, such as Bordeaux Index’s LiveTrade or Berry Bros & Rudd’s BBX, and major auction houses, which sometimes feature high–profile, single-owner collections.

Buyer Beware (Caveat Emptor):

As ever, tread carefully when buying on the secondary market, particularly if hunting vinous treasures or super-rare ‘unicorn’ wines. Stick to reputable sources, and be especially wary if the price looks too good to be true.

Value for a drinking cellar

Value is a relative term, of course. Lynch-Bages 2024 released at £60 per bottle this en primeur was remarked on as noteworthy by merchants such as Farr Vintners Nonetheless, the scope and scale of Bordeaux makes it an ideal hunting ground for bargains, and wines ready-to-drink or keep cellared away. Less powerful vintages may be approachable sooner, and buying wines with a range of drinking windows makes logical sense.

In a top vintage, the second labels of well-known estates often open up sooner than the grand vin. Following Decanter’s recent Médoc Grand Cru Classé 2016 vintage panel tasting, Robert Mathias MW, said: ‘Second wines are drinking now, for sure, and for another five years, which is impressive, while the grands vins are more muscular and tightly coiled.’

It’s still possible to find great options lower down the price ladder. Beyond the 1855 ranking, the Cru Bourgeois du Médoc classification is one source of quality and value.

Top Bordeaux on the fine wine market

Bordeaux in context

Many top Left Bank wines are produced in relatively large volumes, compared to, say, blue-chip Burgundy or even top wines of the Right Bank, like Petrus. First growths, in particular, traditionally contribute significant liquidity to trading on the secondary market for fine wine.

But Bordeaux today shares the market with many more wines than was previously the case – notably with Burgundy, Champagne and Italy. Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, remarks that, in 2010, Bordeaux once constituted 95% of trading by value, but since 2021 has ‘hovered between’ 35-40%.

First-growth average bottle prices

While the fine wine secondary market has a track record of long-term value growth, particularly for top wines from the best vintages, it hasn’t been a straight road and price increases can never be guaranteed.

Wine-Searcher.com data indicates average bottle prices for Bordeaux first growths are broadly flat, or slightly down, versus five years ago in US$ terms, albeit figures will vary by merchant and vintage. Its figures underline Haut-Brion’s status as the lowest-priced first growth, on average. (See table below)

A tough market

A tough macroeconomic backdrop, including elevated interest rates, has dampened buyer demand for luxury collectibles in general, from wine and whiskies to art and diamonds, according to consultancy group Knight Frank’s 2025 Wealth Report. Fine wine prices have drifted downwards on the secondary market since late 2022, after the lockdown-driven upswing peaked.

Data broadly shows that Bordeaux has underperformed other key regions. Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade that tracks prices of highly collectible wines, says its Bordeaux 500 index is down 13.5% over the five years to 31 October 2025. Its parent index, the multi-region Liv-ex 1000, dipped 1% over the same period.

Sub-Indices for Italy, Burgundy and Champagne have fallen since 2022 but remained above 2020 levels (See Chart 1). A handful of wines have outperformed within Bordeaux indices, notably Right Bank stars from Pomerol, says Sophia Gilmour from Liv-ex’s market intelligence team.

‘Les Carmes Haut-Brion stands out as the top performer outside of Pomerol,’ Gilmour says, noting it carries a lower price tag than several classified peers.

Generation gap: Old Bordeaux rules?

Geraint Carter, of international merchant Bordeaux Index and the LiveTrade online trading platform, recently told Decanter magazine’s Market Watch that prices for younger Bordeaux vintages have come under greater pressure, with plentiful supplies of many wines. Older clarets, such as wines from 1990 and 2000, held their value better in the first half of 2025, with some even appreciating, he says.

Miles Davis, market expert at Vinum Fine Wines, with offices in London and Asia, highlights consumer demand for older, ready-to-drink wines, citing Pichon Comtesse 2007 or Gruaud Larose 2005 as examples.

‘Prices from that era are still looking really good value,’ he says, adding 2005-vintage wines in general sell well, including first growths. Vintages predating the mid-90s are rarer, and more expensive, but he adds: ‘When we see it, things like Lynch-Bages 1990 and Pichon Baron 1990 always sell well. And we’ve had quite a lot of success with ex-château releases from [this] sort of era.’

In his view, people are currently buying to drink rather than invest.

Opportunities and green shoots

There has been recent trade talk of the market showing signs of greater stability, but there are on-going macroeconomic challenges, from household budget squeezes to US import tariffs. ‘The [Bordeaux] 2021 and (more recently) 2022 vintages have seen their prices fall sharply,’ says Liv-ex’s Sophia Gilmour, adding many 2021s were trading below their ex-château release prices. ‘The need for cash has forced stockholders to bring prices down to meet the market. The upside of this is that prices are now becoming much more realistic.’

Gilmour adds: ‘Excellent back-vintages are also now reaching 2020 or 2015 [era] lows – prices that at those times reinspired [buyer] demand. ‘In short, the opportunities lie where stockholders have been willing to capitulate, and where tried and tested wines are reaching support levels.’

Despite some signs of improvement, it remains a buyer’s market. Bordeaux Index’s Carter says: ‘Quality and value alone don’t guarantee interest – you need both, and a clear reason for buyers to act now rather than sit tight.’

Wealthy buyers still thirsty for rarities

If you’re fortunate enough to own a case of legendary Bordeaux from the past 150 years, it’s possibly not something you’d want to part with. If you did, though, it seems wealthy collectors are poised for opportunities.

Nick Pegna, global head of wine and spirits at Sotheby’s, tells Decanter that the auction house has seen improved metrics in the second half of 2025, from number of bids to sales figures. Top names are leading this, but rarity is a key ingredient. Provenance and condition, too, cannot be underestimated, he notes.

‘We’re finding [that] people are more interested in provenance,’ Pegna says. ‘For example, 19th-century or early 20thcentury bottles aren’t guaranteed to sell well, because people are concerned about how they’ve been looked after.’

In November 2025, and culminating in a live auction in Paris on 1 December, Sotheby’s is offering historic Lafite vintages. These include ex-château bottles that have never left the first-growth’s cellars, plus wines from a Rothschild family member’s private cellar. Among the bottles on offer, an ex-château bottle of Lafite 1870 represents a vaunted pre-phylloxera vintage (estimate: €45,000€60,000), while the sale also features 36 bottles of Lafite from the famed 1945 vintage.

Auction house Zachys recently sold a magnum of Lafite 1870 in New York for $387,500, including buyer’s premium (high estimate: $75,000). It auctioned bottles from the late Jacqueline (de Rothschild) Piatigorsky, all stored in Pauillac since being acquired on release. ‘History was made within the first minutes, when the opening 35 lots set world records,’ it said, adding total sales hit $11m.

One to watch: Bordeaux 2016 hits 10-year mark

A ‘10 Years On’ tasting of top names from the benchmark 2016 vintage will be hosted by Bordeaux Index in London in January. Château Latour 2016 (£3,250 per 6x75cl IB, Bordeaux Index / LiveTrade) sold relatively well after its debut release in March 2025.

‘A case of the right wine, from the right vintage, at the right price,’ says Carter. Decanter’s Georgie Hindle gave the wine 100pts, noting: ‘A blend of 92.9% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7.1% Merlot, [it] exhibits remarkable structure, purity, and longevity.’

Wine investment: Six things to consider

1. Some of the most prominent fine wines on the secondary market have a track record of increasing in value over time, particularly as available supplies diminish, but nothing is guaranteed. The pool of investment-grade wines is also relatively small.

2. Professional storage in bond is considered important. A wine’s condition and provenance can affect value.

3. Wine investment is unregulated. Only buy wine from reputable sources, and check provenance and condition as carefully as possible before buying.

4. Factor in costs, such as for storage, and possible selling fees. Storage is often charged at a fixed annual rate.

5. Some auction houses have previously told Decanter that full cases tend to be more in-demand, although limited-production wines may be released or allocated in smaller quantities – such as three-bottle cases.

6. If unsure, always seek professional advice.

Report by Chris Mercer for Decanter Premium. A freelance journalist and former editor of Decanter.com, Chris has written about the global fine wine market for more than a decade

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Disclaimer

Please note that this report has been published purely for informational purposes and does not constitute financial or investment advice. The report includes Wine-Searcher monthly global average retail prices in US$ to provide a consistent point of comparison, as well as data and opinion from other trade sources. All of this information is subject to change, and the prices and availability of wines cited will vary between countries, currencies and retailers. Decanter and the editorial team behind this report do not accept liability for the ongoing accuracy of its contents. Seek independent and professional advice where necessary and be aware that wine investment is unregulated in several markets. Please be aware that prices can go down as well as up.

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Data from international merchant Bordeaux Index and its LiveTrade online trading platform showed prestige cuvée Champagne prices were mostly down in 2025 so far, albeit Bollinger, La Grande Année 2012 was up 7%, but several wines saw better performance in the third quarter of the year (see table below).

Bordeaux Index’s Geraint Carter highlighted ‘more of a balance between buyers and sellers’, albeit talk of market recovery is premature.

‘We’ve had good success with vintage Champagnes with 15 to 20-plus years of age, which offer compelling value,’ he added, including Taittinger, Comtes de Champagne 2006, Dom Pérignon, Rosé 2002 and Bollinger, La Grande Année 2008.

Many prestige Champagnes remain more expensive than five years ago, despite falling back since a market bull-run peaked in late 2022. Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, said its Champagne 50 index was down 4.6% in the first nine months of 2025 and 20.8% over two years, yet still up 16.7% versus September 2020.

‘The Champagne 50, unlike the broader market, remains a way off its 2020 lows,’ said Liv-ex’s September market report. ‘With its volatility decreasing and trade volumes remaining strong as the [broader] market begins to stabilise, a full retracement back to 2020 levels appears increasingly unlikely.’

Nevertheless, consumer interest in new releases has reportedly been patchy. Recent successes include Cristal 2013 in magnum, said Bordeaux Index’s Carter.

Miles Davis, market expert at Vinum Fine Wines, reported good demand for Taittinger, Comtes de Champagne 2014.

Lauren McPhate, partner at Tribeca Wine Merchants in New York, said: ‘The frequency of purchase of prestige cuvée Champagne has definitely slowed over the last year.’

Consumers were increasingly tired of some producers’ higher release prices, she said, also noting the recent 15% US import tariff on EU wines. ‘Champagne as a category has not slowed down, however. We’re seeing great turnover in our $50-$100 category, which tends to be heavy on grower Champagne.’

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com.

2025 has been a challenging year for prestige Champagne, though ultimately one not without encouragement. Trading is down around 10% year-on-year, slightly outperforming the broader fine wine market.

Factor in lower pricing and volumes are marginally higher than last year – a sign that engagement remains healthy despite understandable consumer reticence. The market now feels more balanced between buyers and sellers, with a notable trend of large stockholders selling through to retail buyers worldwide.

Mature vintages offering value and near-term drinkability have attracted deep and consistent attention – think Comtes 2005 & 2006, Dom Pérignon 2004 and Bollinger LGA 2008. Prices, meanwhile, are starting to reflect a mood of cautious optimism. Prestige cuvées have shown a modest uptick after continued declines in the first half of the year.

Yet given the scale of the pullback since the 2022 peaks, this remains a story of consolidation rather than resurgence. The worst may well be behind us, but recovery looks set to be gradual and ‘organic’. The market is steady and well tested, just don’t expect effervescence.

Bidders send venerable Scotch whisky sale to heady heights

Special bottlings of decades-old Scotch whiskies sparked strong bidding among collectors at the latest Distillers One of One charity auction, host Sotheby’s has said. Total sales hit £2.9m as bidders vied for 39 one-off lots in the 10 October auction, held at Hopetoun House near Edinburgh.

‘Bids [were] leaping in increments as much as £140,000 at a time,’ said Sotheby’s. Top lot was a 1.5-litre, spiral-shaped decanter housing The Glenlivet SPIRA 60 Year Old 1965 single malt.

It sold for £650,000, including buyer’s premium, far outpacing a pre-sale high estimate of £110,000. Other highlights included a 1.5L hand-blown decanter of The Glen Grant Eternal 77 Year Old 1948, which fetched £400,000 (high e: £120,000).

Auction proceeds will primarily benefit the Youth Action Fund, which supports disadvantaged young people in Scotland, said Sotheby’s.

Rothschild cellar yields 19th-century gems

A collection of 19th-century Bordeaux wines from a Rothschild family member’s cellar has been a highlight of New York’s autumn auction season. Zachys auction house said that every lot found a buyer after it offered the wine collection of the late Jacqueline (de Rothschild) Piatigorsky.

Total sales hit $11.16m and several lots soared above estimates.

‘The opening 35 lots set world records,’ said Zachys. A magnum of Château Lafite Rothschild’s celebrated 1870 vintage sold for $387,500, including buyer’s premium, eclipsing a pre-sale high estimate of $75,000.

That’s a record auction price for the wine in magnum, said Zachys. Lafite 1870 is regarded as one of the f inest wines of its era, produced just two years after the Rothschild family acquired this Bordeaux first growth estate.

Several magnums of the 1869 vintage also featured; the highest-priced selling for $231,250 (high e: $30,000). A three-bottle lot of Château Haut-Brion 1899 and a six-bottle lot of Château Giscours 1875 each sold for $106,250 (high e: $18,000 and $6,000 respectively).

Henri Jayer, Cros Parantoux 1999 Wines in the collection were acquired on release and had been stored in Pauillac ever since, said Zachys. According to Charles Antin, the global head of wine auctions at Zachys, the sale represented ‘truly a pinnacle of my wine-auction career.’

He added: ‘It was gratifying to see so many of our collector friends and clients respond to what was truly a once-in-alifetime offering of unmatched provenance.’

Disclaimer: Decanter’s Market Watch pages are published for informational purposes only and do not constitute investment advice. Wine prices may vary and they can go down as well as up. Seek independent advice where necessary and be aware that wine investment is unregulated in several markets, including the UK.

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There are exciting developments in the region, as shown by Napa Valley’s Dominus Estate recently acquiring the 34.8ha Yountville Ranch Vineyard.

On the market, though, California fine wine prices have fallen in line with other key regions.

An index for Dominus showed a rise and fall since January 2021 (see chart below), broadly mapping recent price performance among leading US wines, said Geraint Carter, of international merchant Bordeaux Index and the LiveTrade online trading platform.

At Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, the California 50 index fell 6.2% in the first eight months of 2025, despite rising 0.9% in August.

The index, tracking Dominus, Screaming Eagle, Harlan Estate, Opus One and Ridge Vineyards’ Monte Bello, was also down 1.7% over five years, although still up 45% versus 10 years ago.

As elsewhere, lower prices may bring opportunities. Screaming Eagle prices on the secondary market rival those for blue-chip Burgundy, but Liv-ex said in August: ‘Selling pressure has allowed buyers to acquire this tiny-production, cult wine more easily than would be possible in better market conditions’.

Safe bet

However, it warned of ‘considerable downside risk’ for buyers. More ‘risk-averse’ options include wines traded in higher volumes, it said. ‘Opus One and Dominus are two such examples, both showing decreasing volatility.’

Opus One is the most traded US wine at Bordeaux Index and LiveTrade in volume and value, said Carter. Yet, he also said, ‘The US remains a minority presence at Bordeaux Index with sales averaging just 3% of total turnover over the past decade.’

California’s top wines have more traction inside the US. Chicago-based auction house Hart Davis Hart saw several mature lots find buyers at, or above, pre-sale high estimates in August.

Twelve bottles of Ridge Vineyards’ Monte Bello 1991 fetched $7,767.50, including buyer’s premium (high estimate: $5,500), while a magnum of Mayacamas Vineyards, Cabernet Sauvignon 1974 fetched $2,629 (high e: $2,200).

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com.

California occupies an enigmatic space in the fine wine world. Despite its reputation for big scores and high prices, the region has remained a minority presence in the international trade. At BI, US wines have averaged just 3% of turnover over the past decade, with only a short-lived surge to 6% in 2018-19.

This year it is trending at little more than 1%. Within this modest share for the US, unsurprisingly it is California that dominates. Mondavi’s Opus One stands comfortably ahead of the pack in both value and volume, thanks to its Bordeaux heritage, consistency and broad distribution, while the likes of Screaming Eagle, Harlan, Dominus/Moueix and Colgin make up a distant second tier.

Encouragingly, over the past decade, the range of producers represented has grown markedly. Estates such as Rose & Arrows, Chanin and Domaine de la Côte now attract well-merited attention, reflecting both California’s stylistic diversity and a willingness among buyers to look beyond the established players.

The icons themselves have lost some of their lustre in the last two to three years, with deep price falls for wines such as Screaming Eagle and Hundred Acre underlining the risks of operating in what is a fairly opaque and illiquid market.

California produces some of the world’s most exciting wines, but its secondary market footprint remains niche and somewhat volatile. And with Trumpian trade squalls and political crosswinds factored in, the pitch has only become trickier.

Rare Faiveley bottles to go under the hammer

Christie’s will hold a ‘once-in-a-generation’ auction to mark Domaine Faiveley’s 200th anniversary, featuring historic bottles sourced from the Burgundy producer’s cellars.

The auction, which will run online from 5 to 19 November, will feature many ‘library cellar rarities’, from grand cru verticals to ‘the legendary Musigny 1908’.

A ‘Domaine Faiveley experience’ will also be offered, comprising a lunch or dinner for up to 10 guests and a nine-decade vertical tasting. Founded in 1825 by Pierre Faiveley, Domaine Faiveley today covers more than 120ha across the Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune, including 12 grand cru and 21 premier cru sites.

Edwin Vos, international head of Christie’s wine and spirits department, said, ‘This auction offers an extraordinary opportunity to explore Domaine Faiveley’s legacy and access some of Burgundy’s most exceptional wines.’

Muted reception for La Place autumn campaign

Early releases of international fine wines via La Place de Bordeaux in September saw a relatively muted buyer reaction, several merchants have said.

Bordeaux négociants kicked off the annual September releases campaign with superstar names, including Napa’s Opus One 2022 (97pts, Decanter; £1,410 per 6x75cl in bond, Bordeaux Index), plus Super Tuscans Masseto 2022 and Solaia 2022.

It was too soon to fully judge the campaign as Decanter went to press, but Miles Davis, market expert at Vinum Fine Wines, said initial demand was relatively muted.

Last year’s Opus One 2021 release sold very well in a tough market, he said. ‘This year… we’ve sold a bit [of the 2022 vintage].’ He said some buyers also pounced on new stocks of Château Haut-Brion 2014, released early September.

‘It’s one of the cheapest mature vintages [of Haut-Brion] on the market,’ Davis noted.

Robert Mathias MW, senior buyer for Lay & Wheeler, praised Opus One for releasing its 2022 wine as one of the cheapest available vintages. He said economic headwinds continued to affect consumer demand in general, but early successes from the September campaign included Seña 2023 (99pts, Decanter); ‘a wine of real quality at a reasonable price [£360 per 6x75cl in bond]’.

Commenting more broadly, Geraint Carter, of Bordeaux Index, said La Place de Bordeaux’s September campaigns have struggled to generate excitement among the merchant’s clients. Nevertheless, the quality of the wines is top-drawer.

Disclaimer: Decanter’s Market watch pages are published for informational purposes only and do not constitute investment advice. Wine prices may vary and they can go down as well as up. Seek independent advice where necessary and be aware that wine investment is unregulated in several markets, including the UK.

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Tuscany is an ongoing bright spot in a weak market, according to international merchant Bordeaux Index and its LiveTrade online trading platform, and recent vintages of top Super Tuscans have led trading on this Italian region’s wines in 2025 (see chart below).

While Sassicaia remains a top seller, Bordeaux Index’s Geraint Carter said recently: ‘Tignanello and Solaia [have] continued their strong upward trend, thanks to a compelling mix of quality, value and pricing stability.’

Shaun Bishop, CEO of California-based merchant JJ Buckley, told Decanter: ‘We’ve seen good demand for great Super Tuscan brands like Sassicaia, Solaia and Tignanello, and prices have been steady versus last year.

However, he said that ‘lesser-known brands, even with high critical acclaim, have seen softer demand’. Italy’s Piedmont has seen softer demand across the board, he added.

US import tariffs, set at 15% on EU wines in August, could be a factor to watch, although it was too soon to properly assess their impact. Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, highlighted Tuscany’s relative price stability in a declining market.

The Tuscan portion of its Italy 100 index dipped 1.3% in the first half of 2025, while the Piedmont portion dropped 5.6%. The multi-region Liv-ex 1000 index fell 4.7%. Despite recent decline, Liv-ex’s Italy 100 was up more than 12% over five years.

Rare Masseto collection comes to auction

Auction house Christie’s said it will offer an ‘extremely rare’ private collection of leading Super Tuscan Masseto during a wider, London-based online wine auction to run from 2-16 September.

It includes large-format bottles and features every Masseto vintage from 2020 back to the debut 1986 wine, ‘which is labelled Ornellaia Merlot Toscana Vino da Tavola’.

Noah May, head of wine and spirits at Christie’s for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), said it was an exciting opportunity for collectors to explore the wine’s evolution.

He agreed that Tuscany has stayed ‘pretty strong’ on the market and he highlighted the top wines’ relative value, alongside quality in the bottle.

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com.

Tuscany has held up well against the broader fine wine market backdrop of an extended period of drifting prices. This is interesting as the price pattern since 2021 was comparable to that of Champagne, which has some logic given the brand-driven nature of both regions and their appeal to new market entrants.

However, Tuscany has proven more resilient, perhaps because of the smaller volumes involved. Interest in the excellent 2021 and 2016 vintages may have helped. Piedmont has seen a more substantial decrease in demand, but this is not unusual, it remaining a region where activity waxes and wanes.

Despite the quality of the wines, it sits towards the periphery of the fine wine trading space. It is difficult to know what would change the context of Piedmont activity – it is not a region that new buyers generally turn to. Lower prices may attract attention, however.

Wine trade gala The Golden Vines branches out to Miami

Exclusive wine and spirits event The Golden Vines will take place in the US for the first time, organisers have said. Miami will host the annual event’s fifth edition from 7-9 November.

A packed schedule includes masterclasses, lunches and gala dinners featuring leading producers, from Château Lafite Rothschild to California’s Harlan Estate. Created by Liquid Icons, a group founded by the late, great Gérard Basset OBE MW MS and friend Alexander A ‘Sasha’ Lushnikov, tickets to The Golden Vines weekend cost $15,000 per person.

A charity auction of ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ experiences will be held to support the Gérard Basset Foundation, which focuses on education, training and mentoring. Crurated, an online fine wine members’ platform, also said it will offer bespoke benefits to a select group of Golden Vines clients via a partnership with Liquid Icons.

Champagne launch sparks global interest

A first single-plot cuvée from Champagne Barons de Rothschild has recently debuted at auction in London, and offered collectors a fresh name to watch.

A three-bottle collection of ‘Le Grand Clos 2019’ sold for £16,120, including buyer’s premium, via auction house Bonhams in London in July – signalling the new cuvée’s global launch.

Respectively numbered 0001, 0002 and 0003, the bottles have been signed by three central members of the Rothschild family: Benjamin de Rothschild, Eric de Rothschild, and Philippe Sereys de Rothschild.

Only 1,788 bottles of Le Grand Clos 2019 have been produced, by chef de cave Guillaume Lété. Grapes are sourced from a small ‘clos’ spanning 52 ‘ares’ (0.52 hectares) and acquired by Champagne Barons de Rothschild in 2013.

The plot is located in the premier cru village of Vertus, where the 20-year-old company also recently inaugurated a new winery and cellar building.

‘This historical release inspired global collectors, and we received strong interest from every continent,’ said Amayes Aouli, global head of wine and spirits at Bonhams.

Proceeds from the sale will go to Guy Laliberté’s One Drop Foundation, a charity helping to provide safe drinking water, and the winning bidder is also entitled to a tour of the new Vertus winery, plus lunch or dinner with a Rothschild family member.

Several Champagne houses have released new iterations of top cuvées in recent months, including Pol Roger’s Sir Winston Churchill 2018, and Krug Grande Cuvée 173ème Edition.

Disclaimer: Decanter’s Marketwatch pages are published for informational purposes only and do not constitute investment advice. Wine prices may vary and they can go down as well as up. Seek independent advice where necessary and be aware that wine investment is unregulated in several markets, including the UK.

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• Wine investment: Top value Burgundy offers value in downbeat market
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Nothing marks the end of summer like the school’s re-opening and the start of the annual September releases campaign.

This is the second tranche of international releases, or ‘Hors Bordeaux’, following the 50+ wines launched by négociants in March.

SCORE TABLE: All the Place de Bordeaux September releasesScroll down for Georgie’s ‘ultimate autumn case’

It’s no secret that the fine wine market is struggling at the moment, amid a backdrop of lingering US tariffs, a subdued Chinese market, and broader economic headwinds.

However, the 2025 campaign underscores the resilience, perseverance and prestige of La Place delivering a crafted – and increased – number of fine wines from around the world.

The autumn releases also present a joyous and fascinating moment to check in on both new and old vintages from some of the world’s most iconic and reputable estates. And this year’s cohort is a bounty of beautiful wines waiting to be explored.

The campaign, that technically kicked off on 28 August with Domaine de Baronarques, will run through to the end of September (with some extensions into October) and features more than 130 wines from 12 countries including: Italy, Spain, the US, Germany, Chile, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Hungary, South Africa and France.

The calendar of releases takes on a clearer structure than in previous years with the coming days seeing the release of starry names like Opus One (1 September), Masseto today (2 September), Almaviva (3 September), Solaia (4 September), and Penfolds Grange (8 September), alongside Bordeaux gems such as the historic re-releases from Latour (2012) and Palmer (2015).

The releases will be split by region giving each country the limelight – Australia, Spain, Italy, US, France then South America – with a dedicated Riesling week in October like last year.

New and exciting wines

Akin to last year’s flurry of German Rieslings entering La Place, this year is the first time wines from the Loire Valley will be included alongside other French bottlings. It’s an exciting development that seeks to not only present the best of France all in one accessible place but also offer more white wines satisfying current market trends and demand.

The number of wines due to be released may also give way to a potential dedicated ‘Loire week’ within the campaign.

Jean-Quentin Prats, CEO of Joanne Rare Wines which manages more than 100 ‘Hors Bordeaux’ wines, captures this strategy: ‘We want to focus on establishing what we already have however if there was one area we could increase, it was white.’

Indeed there are five new white wines on offer this autumn. ‘[There is an] increase in French whites, and one area is the Loire Valley where you have very high-quality products, old vines on amazing soils and great know-how. And there is a demand in the market for that,’ Prats added.

Alongside the Loire wines including; Domaine Delaporte (three cuvées from Sancerre), Domaine Sébastian Brunet (old-vine Chenin in Vouvray) and Luneau-Papin (biodynamic wine from Muscadet), are new wines from Adega Algueira (Cornamuse Godello from Ribeira Sacra), a sublime Chardonnay from Zuccardi (Gualtallary), the excellent House of Arras Late Disgorged Grand Vintage 2008 (Tasmania), an 18-year-old Riesling from Jim Barry (Clare Valley) and a red and white from Sonoma’s Flowers Winery.

Despite global challenges – declining wine consumption, tariff-driven price hikes, and shifting demand – La Place remains a dynamic stage for producers’ unwavering commitment to excellence and the increase in wines showcases that.

This campaign is a heartening reminder of the resilience of wineries and merchants striving to spotlight world-class wines (at a mixture of price points), in a turbulent market.

My highlights

Australia

There are several superlative wines in the mix this year starting with the 100-point Cloudburst Chardonnay from the 2023 vintage. It was tasted at the end of a 10-year-vertical, which will be coming to Decanter Premium this month, and showcases the very best of what owner and winemaker Will Berliner can achieve with his vineyard-come-garden. A sublime wine.

More white Australia gems come in the form of aged Tasmania sparkling House of Arras 2008 which was utterly delightful, Giaconda’s Chardonnay is another knockout by winemaker Rick Kinzbrunner and Jim Barry’s Florita Riesling 2015 is well worth seeking out.

For the reds, Penfolds Grange is absolutely top class as is Jim Barry’s The Armagh – exceptionally captivating and great quality.

Argentina

I completely fell in love with Sebastian Zuccardi’s Finca Canal Uco stopping just short of 100-points. It’s an amazingly fresh and focussed Malbec from high-altitude vineyards in Paraje Altamira. I’ve met Sebastian a few times in Bordeaux to taste through his ever-expanding range of wines and I adore his approach and sensitivity to the cuvées he creates.

The accolades continue for Argentina with a brilliant Cheval des Andes and fabulous Catena Zapata Adrianna Vineyard.

Austria

How lucky we are that Gerhard Kracher’s wines are now on the Place de Bordeaux. It’s a little tricky keeping up with the dozen or so Trockenbeerenauslese cuvées he produces (among lots of others) each year of which a selection are chosen to present to La Place.

This year there are five wines – numbered in order of sweetness – the denser a wine, the higher the number. If you haven’t tried these wines before don’t hesitate. They’re all excellent with numbers two, three and five standouts among the impressive range.

Chile

Ever since I visited Chile – and all of the La Place producers bar Vik in 2022 – I’ve been captivated by what’s being produced there.

Seeing the magnificent vineyard vistas and getting to know the viticulture and terroir helped me understand the efforts that are going on in the country to create world-class wines.

Seña this year is absolutely incredible – a must-buy if you can, but Almaviva and Santa Rita are also excellent. I also love the work Sebastian Labbé is doing at Viña Santa Rita wtih Casa Real. Such attention to detail is showcased in the wines.

France

The French contingent is strong and varied this year with everything from Champagne to Burgundy to Bordeaux as well as the Loire Valley providing plenty of enjoyment and value – particularly for two first timers.

Cuvée Eugenie, the Pouilly-Fumé from Domaine Lebrun delights with richness and juiciness while the benchmark producer Domaine Luneau-Papin, with ninth generation Pierre-Marie and daughter-in-law Marie at the helm, have produced a lovely and very drinkable biodynamic Gula Ana 2023 for its first outing on La Place.

There are eight Champagnes being released this month spanning six different vintages giving fizz lovers plenty to get stuck into.

My personal favourite was Philipponnat’s mature Clos des Goisses 2000 which is in its peak drinking window, but Leclerc Briant’s organic Château d’Avize 2015 is also captivating, with amazing acidity.

Clos Lanson’s 2011 is accessible and easy to drink and sits well within the list of back vintages, all tasted together in July (2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007 and 2006). The vertical will be written up in a dedicated article on Decanter Premium later this month.

In Bordeaux, the new vintage of Château Cheval Blanc’s Le Petit Cheval Blanc is as good as it’s ever produced – even more evident after tasting back vintages to 2018 – another tasting that will appear on Decanter this month.

Always anticipated, Château d’Yquem’s off-dry ‘Y’ 2023 is stunning as is Château Rieussec’s 2023 vintage. Bordeaux’s sweet wines might not always get the limelight – and these are just two of the varied options coming from the lauded appellation – but it’s a great reminder of the enjoyment that these wines can bring whether you drink them young or old.

I tasted a 1975 – 50-year-old Rieussec at the estate last week and it was utterly delicious.

I have yet to taste Château Palmer’s 10-year-on release or Château Latour’s 2012.

Château d’Aussieres, the Languedoc estate from Lafite Rothschild, is packed full of flavour but silky and smooth with lots to like. Great drinkability and value.

Germany

I missed Germany entry onto La Place last year as I had just given birth, but there are some stunning wines that deserve greater visibility and appreciation.

Sweet, or even off-dry, wines don’t always have the best reputation, and can often be a hard sell ,but there’s something magical when sweetness and richness meet racy acidity, energy and vibrancy like several do in the list.

Heavyweights Ernst Loosen, Schloss Johannisberg, Steinmetz and Domäne Serrig are all represented this autumn.

I loved Ernie’s Riesling Auslese and Domäne Serrig’s Grosse Lage – both excellent quality and with interesting, historical stories behind them. Seek them out.

Italy

Most of the Italian wines were tasted by both myself and Decanter’s Italy editor James Button who came to Bordeaux for the tasting.

Standouts come in the form of Bibi Graetz’s Testamatta and Colore, both brilliant and worth getting hold of.

Antinori’s Solaia and Masseto’s grand vin deliver once again, both with 98 points and one of my favourite wines ever Allegrini’s Fieramonte is un-put-down-able.

I also tasted the new trio of impressive Caiarossa wines which offer great value as well as a mini-vertical of Gianni Mazzei’s Concerto which was extremely impressive. The new vintage doesn’t quite reach the heights of last year but there’s a wonderful signature to this wine with extreme drinkability.

Spain

Telmo Rodriguez’s Yjar (Rioja) and Matallana from Ribera del Duero are both worth trying to get hold of, as is the new complex and enjoyable wine from Adega Algueira – Cornamuse from Ribeira Sacra.

Despite the challengingly hot conditions, CVNE has produced a concentrated but balanced and finessed Real de Asúa Carromaza 2022.

USA

North American wines make up the bulk of the releases, many from the hot and dry 2022 vintage of which several were covered by Jonathan Cristaldi in his Napa Valley vintage 2022 report.

Highlights for me include the ever-brilliant Dalla Valle Vineyards Maya 2022 and an exceptional Quintessa 2022.

I also loved Luc Morlet’s slightly older 2018 vintage of Coeur de Vallée Cabernet Sauvignon and all three Verité wines from Sonoma.

The final La Place vertical to accompany this report will come in the form of 10 vintages of Inglenook’s Rubicon. I was lucky enough to attend a masterclass with winemaker Philippe Bascaules in July where we tasted vintages back to 2013.

This wine is really hitting its stride with a wonderful energetic quality to the wine despite the tough conditions.

Where value and interest lie

In a market favouring affordability, look to under £40 releases from Spain (Dolio) and southern Italy for everyday luxury as well as some of the German Rieslings which have incredible quality to price ratios. The wines from the Loire and Languedoc also provide excellent value.

Given the nature and prestige of some of these wines, prices can be on the very high side with the most expensive likely to top US$400-500. That said, if money were no object these would be my top 12 picks.

Which wines should you buy? My ultimate case of 12:

Ordered by style and score; sparkling, white, red, sweet.

House of Arras E.J. Carr 2008 (97-points): Vibrant Tasmanian fizz.

Philipponnat, Clos de Goisses LV Extra Brut 2000 (98-points): Mature and mouthwatering.

Cloudburst, Chardonnay 2023 (100-points): Sublime, vibrant, and complex.

Château d’Yquem, Ygrek 2023 (96-points): Fresh, succulent and moreish

Bibi Graetz, Colore 2023 (99-points): Nuanced and spectacular.

Jim Barry, The Armagh Shiraz 2022 (99-points): Bottled happiness.

Seña 2023 (99-points): Incredible Bordeaux-style blend.

Quintessa 2022 (99-points): Classy and energetic.

Zuccardi, Finca Canal Uco 2022 (99-points): Fresh, focused Malbec.

Dalla Valle Vineyards, Maya 2022 (98-points): Seductive and bold.

Kracher, Nummer 3 TBA 2022 (98-points): Exotic and zingy.

Dr Loosen, Riesling Auslese 2019 (98-points): Dense yet invigorating.

History of the releases

Beginning as a niche extension to Bordeaux’s en primeur system, the twice yearly ‘Hors Bordeaux’ releases have grown into a global fine wine powerhouse providing international producers access to premium markets via the region’s efficient distribution network.

Collectors can secure allocations at ex-cellar prices, often with ageing potential that drives secondary market value. These releases, many of which are actually back vintages, will test the market sentiment post a lacklustre Bordeaux 2024 en primeur campaign that failed to ignite serious enthusiasm despite some heavy discounts on 2023 release prices.

Generally a good indicator of enthusiasm is the appeal for Opus on the 1st of the month, this year releasing at a recommended UK onward selling price of £235 (8% down on the 2021 / 6% down on the 2019 according to Wine Lister.

It comes to the market below all recent back vintages. The consulting, data and analytics company said: ‘As one of September’s perennial best sellers, if any release has a chance of seeing demand in this difficult market, it’s Opus One.’

One courtier noted: ‘Everyone is waiting to see what the release prices for Opus and Almaviva will be – if they’re good for the market and people buy it will create a dynamic demand’.

It’s not just about price however, similar to the Bordeaux 2024s. There will be brands who have to decrease and some who will hold firm from strategy or lack of increase over the years. Let’s hope there’s some rebounding for this collection of wines.

Yet to be tasted

• Pym Rae, Mount Veeder, Napa Valley 2021
• Klein Constantia, Vin de Constance, Constantia, 2022
• Quintessa, Illumination, Sonoma County, 2024
• Flowers, Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast, 2023
• Château Palmer, Margaux 3éme Grand Cru Classe, 2015
• Château Latour, 1er Grand Cru Classe, Pauillac, 2012

Additional tasting notes for this report were done by Tina Gellie, James Button, Ines Salpico, Jonathan Cristaldi. In some instances there may be two tasting notes.

SCORE TABLE: All the Place de Bordeaux September releases:

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Fine wine prices continued to drift downwards in the six months to 30 June, falling 2.5%-4% across major regions, said international merchant Bordeaux Index and its LiveTrade online trading platform.

Bordeaux fared slightly worse than Champagne and Burgundy, but the picture is nuanced. Younger Bordeaux generally saw steeper price declines, reflecting an oversupply of wine, said Bordeaux Index’s Geraint Carter.

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‘Older vintages held their value better, with some even appreciating.’ (See table below) Weak consumer demand for 2024-vintage en primeur wines added to the pressure on Bordeaux, despite a few successful releases, such as that of Château Lafite Rothschild.

At Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, the multi-region Liv-ex 1000 index has dropped 22% in value in two years.

It was almost back to its June 2020 level, although regional subindices for Champagne, Burgundy and Italy were still up 21.6%, 14.4% and 12.6% respectively over five years.

A complicated picture

Tom Burchfield, head of market intelligence at Liv-ex, said that the market picture was complicated.

He pointed to pockets of price stability, following recent declines, but also said: ‘Current market conditions are largely the result of a severe stock overhang caused by a significant demand:supply imbalance.’

He said uncertainty surrounding US import tariffs and a weaker US dollar have dampened demand among US trade buyers. Bright spots to trading in the first half of 2025 have included several major auctions and also blue-chip Burgundy (see July issue).

Carter at Bordeaux Index reported increased trading in Super Tuscans, notably Tignanello and Solaia. He added that Château Latour 2016 sold well after being released in March: ‘A case of the right wine, from the right vintage, at the right price.’

Miles Davis, market expert at merchant Vinum Fine Wines, reported signs of ‘Asia reawakening a little after a deep sleep’. He said any talk of the wider market downturn slowing or reversing was premature, however.

‘We’re all happier when the market is going up, but it’s too early to call.’

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com.

With wearying predictability, activity and prices drifted lower again in H1 2025. Young Bordeaux bore the brunt, assailed by a combination of weak demand, excess supply, currency headwinds and a frustratingly misjudged en primeur campaign.

Yet despite 30+ months of falling prices, areas of resilience are in evidence as trade in Super Tuscans, mature Bordeaux and blue-chip Burgundy all held firm – proof that transparent pricing and fair ‘value’ still unlock good demand.

Particularly encouraging have been the hints of recovery in the giant Asian trade, which has been largely absent in the last 18 months or more.

For now, attention turns to sandcastles and sangria, but come September, merchants will return not just relieved to have H1 behind us, but with a sense of optimism that a path clear of the malaise is beginning to emerge.

Floral themed Rare artist bottling

Rare Champagne has launched a very limited-edition set featuring a bottle of Rare Millésime 2014 with a design by artist William Amor and a ‘digital passport’ that offers collectors access to a future release in large format.

Priced at US$1,500, Extra-Ordinary Metamorphosis marks the first time Rare has used a digital passport. Each of the 88 bottles is adorned with a ‘Rosa Peony’ flower designed by Amor and made from repurposed plastic.

The digital passports are linked to the flower and, in 2032, each passport holder will receive a methuselah bottle (six litres) of a Rare rosé Champagne selected by the house’s cellar master, the producer said.

Several high-profile Champagnes have been released in recent weeks, including Bollinger PN TX20, Krug Grande Cuvée 173ème Edition and Pol Roger, Sir Winston Churchill 2018.

Koch cellar auction bucks the recent trend

A Christie’s auction of US billionaire Bill Koch’s cellar has fetched more than $28m, adding to a sense that buyers remain willing to spend big on highly prized bottles.

All lots found buyers in the New York- based auction, which was split across three days. Christie’s said total sales hit $28.8m (£21.4m), and large-format grand cru Burgundy saw particularly intense bidding.

A 6-litre methuselah bottle of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti’s Romanée-Conti Grand Cru 1999 fetched $275,000, including buyer’s premium (high estimate: $160,000).

Six magnums of Domaine Georges Roumier, Bonnes Mares 1985 sold for $200,000 (high e: $85,000). From Bordeaux, six magnums of Château Latour 1961 fetched $187,500 (high e: $110,000), and a 6-litre imperial bottle sold for $87,500 (high e: $45,000).

Beyond France, six bottles of Australia’s Penfolds Grange 1971 sold for $10,625 (high e: $7,000). Koch said: ‘I hope these wines that I have spent years collecting and curating will bring joy and great memories to their new owners.’

Separately, US wine auction house Hart Davis Hart (HDH) reported sales of nearly $42.3m in six months to 30 June – a company record for the first half of a calendar year. Julia Murray, chief marketing officer at HDH, cited confidence in the group among consignors and buyers.

‘Simply put, the market has remained vibrant because buyers are always eager to find well-stored wines with excellent provenance from trusted sources,’ she said.

Disclaimer: Decanter’s Marketwatch pages are published for informational purposes only and do not constitute investment advice. Wine prices may vary and they can go down as well as up. Seek independent advice where necessary and be aware that wine investment is unregulated in several markets, including the UK.

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Three people were convicted of fraudulent trading in a case at St Albans Crown Court in the UK this week, following an investigation into the fine wine investment scam by Hertfordshire County Council’s trading standards team.

It described a ‘complex wine fraud’ run via a now-closed company known as Imperial Wine & Spirits Merchant Ltd and previously named Imperial Wines of London Ltd.

A probe found 41 victims collectively lost £6m, but more than £37m passed through the company’s accounts in the 10 years that it was trading, said Hertfordshire County Council and the National Trading Standards body.

They said customers were offered top-tier Bordeaux wines on the false basis that the company wouldn’t make any money until the wines were sold on for a profit.

They added the company inflated initial prices for the wines, sometimes by more than 400%, meaning many investors did not see an increase in value and some customers lost hundreds of thousands of pounds.

While a majority of the wine did exist and was kept in bonded warehouses, some victims didn’t receive any bottles. 

Tactics included hiring luxury taxis to wine and dine victims, publishing glossy brochures and using fake names, the investigation found.

Staff reportedly watched ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ and other films as part of company sales training.

Trading standards officers raided office premises in London in 2018 and found a mantra on the wall stating ‘no means yes’, as well as a ‘Wine for Dummies’ book plus scripts and complaint letters from customers.

Ben Cazaly, 42, was one of the three people convicted on 5 August following a trial at St Albans Crown Court in relation to the scheme. Cazaly founded Imperial Wines of London Ltd in 2008, before the firm was later renamed.

The other two people convicted were Greg Assemakis, 39, and Dominic D’Sa, 45, said Hertfordshire County Council and National Trading Standards.

Trish Burls, chair of the National Trading Standards Tri Regional Investigations Team, said, ‘The criminals exploited people’s passion and enthusiasm, preying on them to invest while stripping many of their life savings and causing significant emotional distress.’

Sentencing will take place on 24 October 2025.

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Subscribe to Premium today for full access to this article and downloadable index cards for each of the first growths

Methodology

This analysis looks at the most recent vintages currently available for each of the five first growths.

For four of them, this covers the year 2014-2024. For Château Latour, which no longer participates in the en primeur system, this covers the older vintages of 2006-2016.

For each there is a graph which compares the prices (in bars) against their score (the gold dot).

The prices are provided by fine wine marketplace Liv-ex, using its ‘Market Price’ which is the ‘best listed price for a wine in the secondary market’.

Each price is also for a full case of 12 standard bottles of wine.

The scores are the most recent for each wine given by one of Decanter’s Bordeaux experts (largely though not exclusively current Bordeaux editor, Georgie Hindle).

Generally speaking, the larger the gap between a price and its score, the more interesting a particular vintage might be to a collector.

There are often times when buyers hone in on famous ‘on’ vintages and miss the fact that some producers out-perform in ‘off’ years (see box below).

This can create striking disparities where wines with the same score can be priced at wildly different levels, usually leaving those from ‘off’ vintages left significantly undervalued and underpriced.

That is the sort of oversight a canny collector can capitalise on to pick up a sought-after wine at a good price. The graphs and analysis below attempts to tease out where such instances seem to exist among recent vintages of the Bordeaux first growths.

This is not an exercise in suggesting or predicting vintages that will rise in value and does not constitute investment advice. Prices are correct as of time of publication but may change over time.

A full index card for each château can be downloaded from the link below each entry.

‘On’ and ‘Off’ vintages in Bordeaux

Referring to the market for Bordeaux wines, commentators occasionally use the term ‘on’ or ‘off’ vintages.

At it’s most basic level, ‘on’ vintages are the best, with high quality wines across the board and positive critical appraisal. As such they tend to be the most desirable vintages and will often attain the highest prices – both at release and over time in the secondary market.

Examples of recent ‘on’ vintages include: 2015, 2016, 2022

Clearly then, ‘off’ vintages are viewed as less-good-to-poor in quality with more mixed reviews. They will be less sought-after and not achieve the same level of demand, remaining (in theory at least) cheaper.

Examples of recent ‘off’ vintages include: 2017, 2021, 2024

Although a handy shorthand, the term lacks lot of nuance as no two ‘on’ or ‘off’ vintages are quite the same and estates can either underperform or outperform the vintage conditions thanks to a variety of factors as well.

Furthermore, it misses out on the sizeable strata of vintages – such as 2014, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2023 – which are not quite classifiable as either.

They might have peaks as good as any ‘on’ vintage but also a greater or larger smattering of wines that are not quite as good but certainly not poor. Where do they fit in?

Perhaps we can borrow some fielding terms from cricket to create ‘mid-off’ and ‘mid-on’ categories as well.

The opinion of many critics is that – whatever the general view of a vintage – it is more important to pay attention to the performance of individual château from year to year and not overly-generalise and certainly not dismiss wines from each vintage out-of-hand.

Château Lafite Rothschild

Average case price (12×75): £4,391

Cheapest vintage: 2024 (£3,420)

Vintages of interest: 2024, 2021, 2020

• Very even spread
• Second most-expensive first growth on average
• Most recent vintage is best buy if looking for lowest price
• 2021 is a 97-pt back vintage below £4,000 (12×75)
• 99-pt 2020 is both below the average price and cheaper than lower-rated vintages

Pre-eminent among the first growths, Château Lafite Rothschild is a regular fixture on the secondary market and its scores and prices reflect that in their correlation.

Nonetheless, there are a couple of vintages that catch the eye. As was noted when it was released en primeur this year, the 2024 wine is the cheapest vintage of Lafite currently available.

Rated 96-points by Hindle, its current market price sits comfortably below Lafite’s relatively high average price in this vintage range.

For buyers looking to get a foot in the door to an estate of this calibre, it’s an obvious place to start.

The 97-point 2021 at just below £4,000 per dozen may be another wine to investigate.

But it’s the 99-point 2020 that merits greater scrutiny here. In her in-bottle report on the vintage, Hindle called it ‘an utterly brilliant Lafite’ with ‘a sense of understated charm’.

At £4,200 per case, it’s below the estate’s average price and cheaper than several vintages rated 98-points by Decanter over the years.

Click here to download Lafite Rothschild’s index card

Château Mouton Rothschild

Average case price (12×75): £3,820

Cheapest vintage: 2024 (£2,880)

Vintages of interest: 2024, 2020, 2018

• 2024 again looks good value as the cheapest vintage
• Big surprise is that the 100-pt 2018 and 2020 are cheaper than the 99-pt 2016 and 2022

Another renowned Pauillac first growth with a sizeable and active secondary market.

Like Lafite, the 2024 wine currently represents the cheapest available vintage from this estate and offers value from that standpoint.

With a 96-point score from Hindle it’s also cheaper than the similarly-scored 2021, 2017 and 2014.

The big surprise here is that the 2018 and 2020 both carry 100-points, yet are cheaper than the 99-point 2016 and 2022.

Popular opinion would contend that the 2016 and 2022 are among Bordeaux’s greatest vintages of the last decade – though 2018 and 2020 are both strong ‘mid-on’ vintages themselves.

Might Mouton have excelled in those latter vintages but lagged in price because of the ‘lighthouse effect’ of the other two?

Even if we made all four vintages 99-points, the price disparity remains worth investigating.

Click here to download Mouton Rothschild’s index card

Château Margaux

Average case price (12×75): £4,206

Cheapest vintage: 2021 (£3,060)

Vintages of interest: 2023, 2020

• 99-pt 2020 is significantly undervalued here
• 98-pt 2023 also looks good value against wines with the same score – under £4,000 per dozen
• 96-pt 2021 as the cheapest vintage might be worth a look as a drinking case

Château Margaux’s average price is slightly skewed by the outsize price of its legendary 2015 vintage. At £7,530 per dozen, it’s one of the most expensive single wines among the first growths.

However, it has also fallen in value considerably since it hit a peak of £11,900 (12×75) in 2022.

The immediate standout here is the 2020 vintage. Rated 99-points by Hindle who called it ‘a Margaux for the ages’, it’s available at a discount to four other vintages rated slightly lower at 98-points.

Meanwhile, the 98-point 2023 vintage currently priced at £3,740 per case (12×75) sits at a discount to its similarly-rated counterparts, which are all above £4,000 and above £5,000 for a case of the 2022 – a price gap of 39%.

As with the situation outlined with Mouton above, this may well represent an instance of the wider market favouring renowned vintages rather than taking the performance of estates into account on a vintage-to-vintage basis.

Click here to download Margaux’s index card

Château Haut-Brion

Average case price (12×75): £3,434

Cheapest vintage: 2021 (£2,800)

Vintages of interest: 2023, 2021

• Cheapest of the first growths on average
• 97-pt 2021 is a steal at current price
• 98-pt 2023 likewise – cheaper than 2022 and 2018

Château Haut-Brion has long offered an excellent ‘in’ to the first growths by virtue of being the most affordable on average.

And its line-up here includes the cheapest wine of all – the 97-point 2021 at £2,800 per case (12×75).

Meanwhile, the 97-point 2016 is 50% more expensive!

There is a similar disparity between the 2023 and 2022. Both rated 98-points, the 2023 has a Market Price of £3,000, while the 2022 is 44% more expensive at £4,320.

Furthermore, Hindle said that the 2023 Haut-Brion had the chops to be ‘a potential 100-point wine’ – stay-tuned for next year’s in-bottle report to see if that comes to pass.

Both wines are currently available for below the average price for the last 10 vintages, making them extremely undervalued versus their peers and offering a potential buying opportunity for collectors.

Click here to download Haut-Brion’s index card

Château Latour

Average case price (12×75): £4,918

Cheapest vintage: 2007 (£3,790)

Vintages of interest: 2016, 2011, 2008

• Most expensive first growth on average
• 100-pt 2016 looks very undervalued versus fellow 100 2010 and even 99-pt 2009
• 97-pt 2011 looking enticing at under £4,000 per dozen
• Fairly decent consistent prices for wines around 95-pts

Since withdrawing from the en primeur process, Château Latour has been releasing stock it considers ‘ready-to-drink’ each spring.

The peak prices for its 2009 and 2010 wines – the latter currently priced at over £8,000 per case (12×75) – helps raise its overall average to be the most expensive of all the first growths.

Strip those heavy-hitters out, however, and many of its wines are priced similarly to those of its peers.

The obvious pick here is the 2016 vintage which was released earlier this year. Rated a perfect 100 by Hindle who called it a ‘monumental Latour’, it has a lot of catching up to do to catch the price of the illustrious 2010, which is nearly £3,000 more expensive.

But, at £5,600 (12×75) itself, it represents a fairly sizeable outlay in order to buy in.

Meanwhile, the 97-point 2011 looks like a bit of a sleeper. Rated by Jane Anson in 2021, she noted it was, ‘a delicious wine that stands out from many in the vintage’, with, ‘a ton of personality’.

It’s also considerably less expensive than some better-regarded vintages – a perfect example of the ‘off’ vintage effect.

Finally, among the estate’s core of 95-point wines, its the rather classic and reliable 2008 that stands out as the one of the least-expensive of all.

Click here to download Latour’s index card

Disclaimer: Decanter analysis is published for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Wine prices may vary and they can go down as well as up. Seek independent advice where necessary and be aware that wine investment is unregulated in several markets, including the UK. Prices correct at time of publication.

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• Bordeaux’s famous ‘5’ vintages
• Bordeaux 2024: Full vintage report and top-scoring wines

Spain’s melting pot of historic producers and exciting modern projects offers a wealth of options for fine wine collectors at many price levels, even if trading on the secondary market is a work-in-progress.

From legendary Rioja and Ribera del Duero to mountain Garnacha, Spanish reds are in a rich vein of form quality-wise.

Collectors are taking notice. Spain’s secondary market presence remains minor, but Vega Sicilia topped the Liv-ex Power 100 ranking in December last year.

Many leading Spanish labels also continue to be a source of relative value.

This report focuses mainly on reds, drawing on data and exclusive reporting for Decanter Premium subscribers to deliver an introductory guide to top names, vintages and market performance.

That said, Spain’s bewitching and long-lived Sherry styles, high-end sparkling cuvées and superb white wines are not to be overlooked, as demonstrated by a host of top medals at the Decanter World Wine Awards 2025.

A downloadable PDF version of the Collector’s Guide: Spain is available here

Key Spanish fine wines to know

Tempranillo in various guises (as Tinto Fino in Ribera del Duero for example) takes centre-stage for reds, but not exclusively. Garnacha is a driving force behind several small-volume, sought-after bottlings, and a wealth of other varieties play important roles.

Historic Rioja producers, like R. López de Heredia, join Ribera del Duero powerhouses Vega Sicilia and Dominio de Pingus as the most-searched-for Spanish names on Wine-Searcher.

Wines in bold were among those recently named in Decanter’s list of ‘10 Spanish icons to try before you die’ (See also February 2025 magazine issue).

This list can only ever provide a snapshot, yet it still demonstrates Spain’s exciting blend of tradition and dynamism.

Rioja’s DOCa denomination is celebrating its centenary year, and several top producers pre-date this, but many of today’s leading Spanish labels have also emerged on the international stage in the past four decades.

Vega Sicilia dates back to 1864 and extraordinary mature vintages still turn up at auction, but the arrival of the Álvarez family in 1982 took things to the next level. Dominio de Pingus, led by Danish-born winemaker Peter Sisseck, quickly shot to fame after its inaugural 1995 vintage.

Exploring terroir and preserving old-vine heritage have been key themes. Álvaro Palacios helped to rejuvenate Priorat’s wine scene and his L’Ermita, now a Gran Vinya Classificada, debuted with the 1993 vintage. Other pioneers include Clos Mogador, created by René Barbier, and Clos Erasmus.

Comando G in the Gredos region, west of Madrid, has achieved cult status after founders Daniel Landi and Fernando García first launched the flagship ‘Rumbo al Norte’ with the 2010 vintage – a 100% Garnacha sourced from an historic 0.3 hectare plot. It’s the youngest entrant in Decanter’s Spanish wine icons list.

Another entrant, Muga’s Prado Enea Gran Reserva, is a leading Rioja to know.

Other key Spanish names, although far from an exhaustive list, include Muga, Artadi, Roda, Telmo Rodriguez, Benjamín Romeo (Contador), Ramón Bilbao, Torres, LVMH-owned Numanthia, and Xavier Ausàs, the ex-Vega Sicilia technical director who founded his own Ribera del Duero project in 2016.

More projects to discover

Discovery is one of the great joys of wine, and Spain is a treasure trove in this regard. Decanter’s first Rioja report, published earlier this year, named Carlos Sánchez and Sandra Bravo (Sierra de Toloño) among standout producers.

There are developments aplenty, too; witness Rioja’s new single-vineyard classification, introduced in 2017 or the consolidation of its ‘White Revolution’.

Vega Sicilia already has its Toro-based Pintia winery and Rioja venture Macán with Benjamin de Rothschild, but is also building a winery in the Albariño stronghold of Rías Baixas in Galicia.

Decanter’s Spain editor, Ines Salpico, recently explored new-wave Ribera del Duero, noting: ‘An exciting array of new projects is introducing the region to a younger audience seeking fresher, lower-intervention, ready-to-drink wines.’

One example is Bendito Destino, El Olmar 2021 (96pts) from London-based sommelier Terry Kandylis.

‘Garnacha and white varieties [are] co-harvested, co-fermented in concrete and aged for two years in a used French oak barrel,’ said Salpico. ‘It’s a superb, elegant wine, with outstanding detail and purity.’

Top Rioja vintages

Vintage guides often clash with a wine world that defies generalisation.

Caveats aside, some top Rioja wines from exceptional vintages ‘develop great complexity over decades and stay in pristine shape even after a century or more’, said Pedro Ballesteros Torres MW in a Rioja vintage guide for Decanter.

‘Such acclaimed vintages from the 20th century include 1948, 1952, 1955, 1964, 1982, 1994 and 1995.’

Rioja’s DOCa council lists several other years as ‘excellent’, such as 1934.

More recent five-star vintages include 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2010, said Ballesteros Torres, who also gave ‘4+’ ratings to 2012, 2016 and 2019.

All gran reserva wines, and some reservas, should be built for ageing, but not all wineries reference the classification system.

‘Know your producers; names are more relevant than classifications and vintages,’ Ballesteros Torres wrote.

Five Decanter Wine Legends through time

• Torres, Gran Coronas Reserva, Cabernet Sauvignon 1970
• R López de Heredia, Viña Tondonia Blanco 1964
• Bodegas Roda, Roda I Reserva 1994
• Vega Sicilia, Unico 1964
• Dominio de Pingus, Pingus 1995

Winery release strategies

Many top Spanish wines are released after several years of maturation, or ‘when ready to drink’. This partly reflects minimum ageing rules in some cases, but producers also run to their own schedules.

Alongside Unico 2015, Vega Sicilia also recently presented its Alión 2021 (95pts, Decanter). Technical director Gonzalo Iturriaga described 2021 as ‘a super vintage’ in general.

Some wines are offered ‘en primeur’ (on a futures basis), such as those of Álvaro Palacios. UK merchant Corney & Barrow told Decanter’s Market Watch recently that it would launch its offer for Dominio de Pingus’ 2024-vintage wines in August 2025.

Some UK merchants also recently launched pre-arrival ‘en primeur’ offers for the already-bottled La Rioja Alta, Gran Reserva 890 2011 (£780 6x75cl in bond, Lay & Wheeler).

La Place de Bordeaux is increasingly a source of international fine wine releases, too, and single-site Rioja wine Yjar, by Telmo Rodriguez, is among a new wave of Spanish entrants.

Aged white Rioja unicorn

Long-aged white Rioja can be a true rarity and a wonder. Marqués de Murrieta’s Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial Blanco was first produced in 1917, and only 13 vintages have been released.

Last release: 1986 vintage (97% Viura, 3% Malvasia) | 99pts (Decanter). Bottled in 2014 after 20 years of ageing in American oak barrels and nearly six years ‘settling’ in concrete tanks.

Source: Capellanía vineyard, Ygay estate, Rioja Alta

Production: 8,125 bottles

Price: £825 (1x75cl ex-vat) via Hedonism | £650 – £1,000 (1x75cl, in bond) via BBX Marketplace, Berry Bros & Rudd.

Hunting value

Value is relative, of course. López de Heredia’s Viña Tondonia Reserva, a Decanter Rioja icon, averaged well under $100-a-bottle on Wine-Searcher (See ‘fine wine market’ section below), and even Vega Sicilia’s Unico is generally priced below Bordeaux first growths.

Shopping through a producers’ range can bring rewards. Pingus ‘Psi’ is ‘a brilliant entry-point into old-vine fruit in the region’, said Guy Seddon, head of fine wine buying at Corney & Barrow, in last year’s offer brochure.

A wealth of under-the-radar wines also offer plenty of opportunities for intrepid collectors keen to build a drinking cellar.

Three value Spanish reds under $50*

Rioja

Bodegas Palacios Remondo, Finca La Montesa, Rioja, Oriental 2021

96pts | $19

From the historic family estate of Alvaro Palacios, ‘Very young now, this [Garnacha-dominant wine] will give much pleasure as it matures.’ – Sarah Jane Evans MW.

Ribera del Duero

Magna Vides, Tinto, Ribera del Duero 2022

96pts | $29

Magna Vides was created by Pablo Arranz and Andrea Sanz to preserve their grandparents’ legacy. ‘It is yielding some of Ribera’s most exciting and elegant wines.’ – Ines Salpico.

Bierzo

Luna Beberide, Paixar Dragonte A Serra, Vino de Paraje 2022

97pts | $34

From Mencia vines at 700 – 1,000m altitude, this wine is ‘at once wild and finessed’. Slate soils ‘deliver a steeliness and vibrancy’ for long and elegant ageing. – Beth Willard.

*Global average retail price per 75cl, ex-tax.

Spain on the fine wine market

Average global retail prices for leading Spanish wines have risen in the past five years, suggested data from Wine-Searcher, although prices will vary by vintage, market and merchant.

As in other areas of the wine world, prices can rise over time as supplies diminish. Muga’s Prado Enea 2001 averaged $209 in May 2025, for instance, well above the wine’s $97 average price.

However, Spain remains a relatively minor player on a fine wine secondary market dominated by French juggernauts Bordeaux and Burgundy.

While quality is high, it is a commonly-held trade view that many collectors prefer to keep treasured bottles for their own future pleasure – rather than trade them.

Matthew O’Connell, CEO of the LiveTrade online trading platform at international merchant Bordeaux Index, said active trading on Spanish wines was generally limited, with Vega Sicilia a rare exception.

Spain accounted for 2.4% of trading by value on Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, in 2024. That is comparable with the Rhône (2.8%), but behind a big five of Bordeaux (36.2%), Burgundy (22.6%), Champagne (11.8%), Tuscany (9.8%) and the US (6.1%).

Vega Sicilia has dominated trading on Spanish wine, in value terms, in 2025 so far at Liv-ex. The five top-traded wines are:

• Vega Sicilia, Alión 2020
• Vega Sicilia, Alión 2019
• Vega Sicilia, Unico 2014
• Marqués de Murrieta, Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial 2014
• Vega Sicilia, Valbuena 5.° 2019

Liv-ex data also indicated a mixed recent performance on price for several leading Spanish wines.

A tough market

Current fine wine market conditions remain subdued. A boom period up to late 2022 has given way to one of the most challenging phases in recent history.

The Liv-ex 1000 index, which tracks prices of many of the most collectible wines, has dropped around 22% in two years and was nearly back at its mid-2020 level.

It has, nevertheless, more than tripled in the past two decades.

Vega Sicilia: New ground but prices soften

Within a subdued landscape, Vega Sicilia last year became the first Spanish producer to head Liv-ex’s Power 100 ranking of global brands.

‘This is overwhelmingly a story about Unico, and to some extent [multi-vintage] Unico Especial,’ said Liv-ex.

US demand drove trading, although signs of a pull-back in April and May could reflect wider buyer hesitancy in the face of import tariffs, noted Liv-ex’s head of market intelligence, Tom Burchfield.

Unico prices have also dropped after peaking in March 2023 – albeit they have risen significantly over 20 years (See Liv-ex Unico index).

Spain at auction: A rising force?

Online auction house Idealwine sold 3,500 bottles of Spanish wine at auction in 2024, up 83% versus 2023. The top lot was a bottle of Unico 1923, sold to a private buyer in Poland for €2,438, including taxes.

Other highlights included a bottle of Rumbo al Norte 2020 at €813, and a bottle of Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial (red) 1934 at €550.

Sotheby’s saw Spanish wine auction sales double last year. Its five best-selling Spanish producers were:

• Vega Sicilia (76% of total Spain auction sales)
• Pingus (8%)
• ‘Vina Sastre’ Pesus (4%)
• Álvaro Palacios (3%)
• Clos Erasmus (2%)

The remaining 7% of Spanish wine sales featured various names, including Marqués de Murrieta, Terroir Al Limit and Artadi.

Nick Pegna, global head of wine and spirits at Sotheby’s, said: ‘Vega Sicilia has always dominated [our Spain sales], because the wines are so sought-after, particularly Unico but also Valbuena.’

He highlighted the availability of decades-old Unico at auction.

‘The time they’ve had in oak means they can age incredibly well,’ he said. ‘They’re generally quite sensibly-priced, but people who want them absolutely love having them.’

Large-format Unico can be a real treat. US auction house Hart Davis Hart sold a six-litre bottle of the 2008 vintage for $5,975 in June 2025 (high estimate: $3,500).

Spain to attract new collectors?

Pegna said current figures must be seen in the context of Sotheby’s focusing on mature wines at auction. ‘You’re almost looking back in time a little bit to what people were collecting 15 years ago.’

He said several factors make Spain well-positioned to attract a new generation of collectors, including relatively accessible pricing and its status as a destination.

‘I think there’s a new generation for whom food and wine tourism is going to be their landing point in this world,’ Pegna said.

Spain excels here, he added. ‘Whether it’s Artadi El Pisón, López de Heredia, Vega [or] Pingus, there will be so many wines that people will come across for the first time at these moments and I think they will stick with them.’

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Disclaimer

Please note that this report has been published purely for informational purposes and does not constitute financial or investment advice. The report includes Wine-Searcher monthly global average retail prices in US$ to provide a consistent point of comparison, as well as data and opinion from other trade sources. All of this information is subject to change, and the prices and availability of wines cited will vary between countries, currencies and retailers. Decanter and the editorial team behind this report do not accept liability for the ongoing accuracy of its contents. Seek independent and professional advice where necessary and be aware that wine investment is unregulated in several markets. Please be aware that prices can go down as well as up.

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• Collector’s Guide: Left Bank Bordeaux
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International merchant Bordeaux Index said that Burgundy blue-chips constituted a ‘bright spot’ in the first five months of 2025.

It said that overall trading on Burgundy fell in value terms, but the region held up better than the wider market.

It cited renewed interest in top-tier producers, led by trading on Domaine de la Romanée-Conti wines (see chart below).

This analysis builds on previous suggestions (see January 2025 update) that buyers were keen to capitalise on recent price erosion among vaunted wines from Burgundy.

While single bottles of grand cru Burgundy can still command higher prices than whole cases of top Bordeaux, it’s all relative.

Changing dynamics

Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the wine trade, said in May that buyers were beginning to find value in Burgundy’s ‘heavy hitters’.

Its Burgundy 150 index dropped 28% in value in the two years to 31 May, having fallen 4.8% in the first five months of 2025, although it was still up 16% over five years.

Matthew O’Connell, CEO of the LiveTrade online trading platform at Bordeaux Index, said of blue-chip Burgundy: ‘People are thinking: “That looks quite attractive and the prices are unlikely to stay that low for long.”’

He added that some top-rated vintages of red Burgundy were commanding less of a premium than in the prior market upswing. While current market dynamics offer advantages to buyers with the necessary financial clout, many sellers may see no rush to part with bottles.

On the flipside, O’Connell said that there’s ‘quite a significant demand pool’. Plus, he added: ‘If you’ve been a long-term holder of these wines, especially some of the older vintages, you’ve done extremely well with them.’

Liv-ex’s Burgundy 150 index has doubled in value in the past decade. Online auction specialist iDealwine said in its recent 2025 Barometer report that auction prices for Burgundy remained above the levels seen prior to the Covid pandemic, despite a significant correction.

‘Global demand for Burgundy’s fine Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays isn’t faltering and the outlook remains favourable,’ it said.

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com.

Burgundy has been the most positive part of the wine market across 2025 so far. Despite the fact that almost all Burgundy prices remain significantly higher than the levels of five years ago, the falling prices across 2023- 2024 have catalysed buying activity.

This is because Burgundy is very much a specific and distinct part of the market, where the supply-demand dynamics that govern all wine pricing are especially acute, for even in a period of falling prices, buyers face the knowledge that pristine top Burgundy is rare when global demand is considered, and therefore that opportunities to buy attractively are not necessarily to be repeated.

This pattern holds true only for the top 10-15 blue chip producers though, and indeed we expect a resumption of positive price performance in that segment.

However, wines in the tiers below – where buyer appetite is overstated in up-markets and resale liquidity is often very poor – look expensive even after a correction, and we are much more pessimistic on this area, which is of course a majority of Burgundy by quantity.

High rollers on good form at Auction Napa Valley 2025

Bidders worldwide have competed for one-off, fine wine and travel experiences at this year’s Auction Napa Valley.

Hosted by Sotheby’s in early June, this year’s auction raised US$6.5m (a sizeable increase on last year’s $4.8m), in aid of Napa Valley Vintners’ youth wellness initiative. Lots were created by some of the area’s biggest names.

An Antinori family and Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars lot included trips to both Napa and Tuscany for two couples, as well as wines including a double magnum of the Napa winery’s 2010 SLV Cabernet Sauvignon.

It sold for $550,000 (£406,000). Another lot included a trip for three couples to a luxury villa on the Caribbean island of Mustique with Auction Napa Valley 2025 chairs Michelle and Robin Baggett, plus a visit to their Napa winery Alpha Omega. It sold for $425,000.

Henri Jayer wines dazzle in Hong Kong

A Christie’s auction of wines from collector Joseph Lau in Hong Kong has served as a fresh reminder of the enduring appeal of Henri Jayer Burgundy wines. Several lots of Henri Jayer wines soared above high estimates at the Christie’s auction in late May.

It’s nearly two decades since Jayer passed away, aged 84, but his legacy continues to excite bidders. Among the top-selling lots was a 10-bottle collection of Henri Jayer, Cros Parantoux 1999 (pictured), which sold for an impressive HK$3.25m (£310,000), more than double its high estimate (HK$1.4m).

Six bottles of Cros Parantoux 1993 fetched HK$2.5m (high e: HK$650,000). This second lot came in the original wooden case and was acquired by Lau at a Christie’s sale of ‘the private cellar of Henri Jayer’ in 2012.

Meanwhile, nine bottles of Cros Parantoux 2001, the last vintage overseen by Jayer before retirement, sold for HK$1.375m (high e: HK$1.3m).

Christie’s said all lots found buyers in its ‘Joseph Lau III’ auction, with total sales reaching nearly HK$73m. Almost 70% of lots were sold above their high estimate.

Among other highlights, five magnums of Lafite Rothschild 1982 sold for HK$187,500 (high e: HK$150,000) and a double magnum of Petrus 1982 fetched HK$150,000 (high e: HK$95,000). Christie’s previously held two auctions focused on Lau’s cellar in 2022, and two further sales are planned, it said.

Disclaimer: Decanter’s Marketwatch pages are published for informational purposes only and do not constitute investment advice. Wine prices may vary and they can go down as well as up. Seek independent advice where necessary and be aware that wine investment is unregulated in several markets, including the UK.

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• Wine investment: Taking the pulse of Bordeaux 2024 en primeur
• Wine investment: Has the market hit bottom?
• Wine investment: Top Champagnes regain their fizz

Bordeaux châteaux have significantly cut en primeur release prices for their 2024 vintage wines, but was it enough to rouse a lethargic market?

Release prices at several leading châteaux were markedly lower than for other recent Bordeaux en primeur campaigns (see chart below).

Lafite Rothschild and Mouton Rothschild 2024 (both 96pts, Decanter) were the cheapest iterations of these first growth wines on the market.

While many merchants welcomed the price cuts, amid a particularly challenging market for Bordeaux, initial feedback suggested buyers were in no rush.

Matthew O’Connell, CEO of the LiveTrade online trading platform at Bordeaux Index, said Lafite sold in good quantities on the day of its release, though the release failed to attract frenzied activity.

In general, he said:‘The discounts have not been at a sufficient level to encourage the majority of potential buyers to participate.’

There are fairly healthy supplies of young Bordeaux around, though each estate has its own context. O’Connell said: ‘We are reminded that 2019 especially, but also 2020, can offer excellent value for high-quality vintages.’

Shaun Bishop, CEO of California-based merchant JJ Buckley, said he had decided not to actively offer a Bordeaux en primeur campaign, for the first time, and cited uncertainty surrounding US import tariffs as the driving factor in that decision.

‘We are recommending that our clients wait until tariff negotiations have concluded and the final price is known.’

From an investment point of view, O’Connell said it’s hard to make a compelling case for the 2024 vintage at current pricing.

Miles Davis, market expert at Vinum Fine Wines, also told Decanter: ‘I think it’s hard to make a case for a really solid, long-term investment.’

He and other merchants nevertheless echoed Decanter’s Bordeaux correspondent, Georgie Hindle, in asserting that standout wines in the 2024 vintage promise plenty of drinking pleasure around the dinner table in years to come.

William Russell, head of private client sales at UK merchant Armit Wines, said: ‘While the Bordeaux en primeur market remains cautious, the châteaux that position their wines sensibly and at a discount to previous vintages remain attractive, especially to a new generation of buyers who were priced out prior to this release.’

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com.

Bordeaux en primeur for the 2024 vintage was always going to be tricky, with a tough macro backdrop, a now long-sustained drift in market pricing of wines from the region, previous recently released vintages almost all ‘underwater’ vs their initial prices, and the new vintage itself having produced some elegant but ultimately not top-tier wines.

Pricing strategies from the key chateaux have varied, most down from their 2023 release prices, but equally most not by enough to encourage significant buying interest.

Collectors are increasingly, and rationally, reluctant to engage in buying wines where recent – and in this case often superior – vintages are available at or below the new-release prices.

There have been a handful of positively received releases, mainly from first growths Lafite and Mouton. While these didn’t drive outsized interest and buying activity, the releases were perceived as constructive and trying to react to the market backdrop.

Buying has mainly been from collectors rather than those looking to invest in new releases.

Rare wines attract strong bidding…

A 55-year-old case of Petrus and Burgundies from the 1990s have led a Christie’s auction of wines from the cellars of late watch pioneer Jörg G Bucherer.

Christie’s said all 233 lots were sold. It also reported strong demand from younger collectors, with 33% of buyers belonging to the Millennial and Gen Z age groups.

Top lots included a 12-bottle collection of Petrus 1970 in its original wooden case (OWC), which sold for £32,500, including buyer’s premium (pre-sale high estimate: £26,000).

Six magnums of the legendary Château Haut-Brion 1989 fetched £22,500 (high e: £20,000). From Burgundy, 1999-vintage reds from Domaine Leroy led the way.

These included cases (12x75cl, OWC) of: Romanée-St-Vivant 1999, sold for £62,500 (high e: £60,000); Latricières-Chambertin 1999, sold for £43,750 (high e: £38,000); and Clos de Vougeot 1999, sold for £35,000 (high e: £35,000).

In total, the auction fetched £1.2m, said Christie’s, adding proceeds will benefit the Jörg G Bucherer Foundation. Despite an ongoing subdued market climate the Bucherer auction joined previous single-owner sales that have performed relatively strongly.

‘The right kind of collection can still sell very well,’ Edwin Vos, international head of Christie’s wine department, told Decanter.

‘When you get to that level of rarity, with a [collector] name and a story behind it, there are still many people out there who are willing to try to acquire some of those lots.’

…while secondary market loses its fizz

Fine wine prices remain under pressure and US import tariffs may have exacerbated the situation, according to a recent analysis.

Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, said most of its major indices declined in April. Its Champagne 50 regional index performed worst, dropping 2.6%, and the group said tariff uncertainty facing US buyers was a key contributing factor.

Its figures again demonstrated the market’s lethargy as Bordeaux’s en primeur season began. Liv-ex’s Bordeaux 500 index dropped 1.6% in April; it was down 24.3% over two years and nearly 6% over five years.

The Left Bank 200 sub-index offered a sliver of hope: ‘The index’s decline is slowing as it approaches its 2020 lows,’ said Liv-ex. Previous analysis has suggested some parts of the market may be nearing a period of stability (See April 2025 issue).

Disclaimer: Decanter’s Marketwatch pages are published for informational purposes only and do not constitute investment advice. Wine prices may vary and they can go down as well as up. Seek independent advice where necessary and be aware that wine investment is unregulated in several markets, including the UK.

Related articles

• Wine investment: Bordeaux faces pricing dilemma
• Wine investment: Has the market hit bottom?
• Wine investment: Top Champagnes regain their fizz

Prices for several top Bordeaux wines from recent vintages have struggled for momentum following release, fresh data shows, shining a light on a delicately poised market as it faces the beginning of the 2024-vintage en primeur campaign.

Some wines have seen prices fall in pound sterling terms since their UK en primeur release, according to data supplied by international merchant Bordeaux Index and its LiveTrade online trading platform.

Even the 2019 vintage, released at relatively low prices in the Covid-19 pandemic, ‘shows a less than stellar performance’, said Geraint Carter, of Bordeaux Index.

Some 2015- and 2016-vintage wines have risen strongly. Les Carmes Haut-Brion 2015’s price has more than doubled in price (see chart), to around £1,000 (12x75cl in bond).

More prices may rise over time, particularly given wines’ high quality, yet the current market remains subdued. Fine wine prices have fallen since late 2022, but Bordeaux has underperformed for longer.

Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, said its Bordeaux 500 index dropped 4.2% in the five years to 31 March. Its multi-region Liv-ex 1000 index rose 5.5%.

While Bordeaux 2024 barrel samples were still being tasted as Decanter went to press, some châteaux were rumoured to be considering release price cuts for the second year running.

Liv-ex said en Bordeaux primeur remains a potential opportunity, despite average prices falling, post-release, on recent vintages.

‘Releasing the 2024s at the right prices will do more than reinvigorate the en primeur system – it may be the catalyst needed to end the current market downturn.’

Each producer has its own context, however. Consultancy group Wine Lister said prices for Pomerol’s Château Lafleur have risen 62% on average since release, for the five vintages spanning 2019 to 2023.

Success story: Latour 2016

Buyer thirst for Bordeaux hasn’t evaporated. A market debut for Château Latour 2016 (100pts, Decanter) in March ‘was, by some distance, the standout sales “event” of the year to date’, said Bordeaux Index’s Carter.

In April, it was being offered at £3,200 (6x75cl in bond, LiveTrade). Miles Davis, market expert at merchant Vinum Fine Wines, said: ‘We sold out very quickly indeed and it felt like the good old days again.’

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com.

This year’s Bordeaux en primeur campaign, for the fairly challenging 2024 vintage, comes at a difficult time for Bordeaux, the only blue-chip wine region to have seen price declines versus the levels of five years ago.

At the same time, most buyers of recent EP vintages are sitting on paper losses due to the combination of release prices sitting too close to market prices of surrounding vintages and the headwinds to Bordeaux prices overall.

There’s certainly a path to a successful EP campaign, one that sees significant collector demand and potentially reignites broader buyer interest in Bordeaux as a region.

This requires very substantial discounts to current market pricing of the cheapest recent vintages, such that the wines are in a ‘must buy’ pricing territory – marginal pricing simply won’t be of interest to most buyers at this juncture.

While the vintage was challenging, Bordeaux châteaux now have a remarkable ability to make very good wines year in, year out, such that if the pricing is right, collectors will be able to tuck away great wines at great prices, and may even then turn their attention to other recent vintages where there are certainly good long-term deals.

Hospices de Nuits-St-Georges auction prices up

Strong bidding on a reduced number of lots in the 64th Hospices de Nuits-St-Georges Burgundy auction drove up the average price per barrel by 41.5% versus last year, organisers have said.

Price per barrel reached €22,422.50 (£19,432), close to a record €22,807 set in 2022, said auction host iDealwine.

Burgundy’s small 2024 harvest affected the quantity of wine offered this year. Domaine des Hospices de Nuits-St-Georges vineyards, spanning 12.4ha, saw the lowest overall yield since 1961.

Total sales from 35.5 barrels, or ‘pièces’, reached €796,000, said iDealwine. The sale also raised €60,950 from bottles of mature vintages released from domaine cellars.

A special barrel in aid of Coucou Nous Voilou children’s charity also raised more than €53,000.

Last year’s auction, focusing on the 2023 vintage, featured 150 pièces and sales topped €2m.

Demand for wines is widening

Auction house Sotheby’s has reported a ‘broadening in collecting interests’ in its latest annual market report for wine and spirits, despite a drop in overall sales last year.

Sotheby’s new report highlighted rising demand for wines from California and Spain, as well as Italy and the Rhône, in 2024.

Bordeaux, Burgundy and spirits still constituted just under 70% of total wine and spirits sales for the year, with Burgundy’s fabled Domaine de la Romanée-Conti the top-selling producer.

Sotheby’s global wine and spirits auction sales dropped to $114m (£87m) in 2024, versus a record $159m in 2023, however.

While hammer prices fell in a challenging market, it was also a year of consolidation and investment, said Nick Pegna, Sotheby’s global head of wine and spirits.

‘We were inspecting a number of long-term collections that we’re bringing to market this year,’ he said, adding the first quarter of 2025 was ‘better than planned, and we’re really pleased with the results’.

Despite reports of a difficult market for young Bordeaux, Pegna said bidders were thirsty for older, ready-to-drink vintages, such as 2005 or 2008.

‘Good quality, excellent provenance, mature Bordeaux is still strongly in demand,’ Pegna said. A recent Sotheby’s London auction included wines from the cellar of John Apthorp CBE.

Two bottles of Château Mouton Rothschild 1982 fetched £3,750, including buyer’s premium (high estimate: £1,600). Seven bottles of Petrus 1970 sold for £16,250 (high e: £13,000).

Disclaimer: Decanter’s Marketwatch pages are published for informational purposes only and do not constitute investment advice. Wine prices may vary and they can go down as well as up. Seek independent advice where necessary and be aware that wine investment is unregulated in several markets, including the UK.

Related articles

• Wine investment: Has the market hit bottom?
• Wine investment: Top-tier Burgundy prices soften
• Wine investment: Market malaise hits Bordeaux prices

Although the fine wine market has shown long-term value growth, the recent price correction has been relatively deep and prolonged.

International merchant Bordeaux Index said prices for the ‘prime’ Bordeaux vintages of 2000, 2005 and 2009 have ‘stabilised significantly’ in recent weeks, however.

Prices have dropped over 12 months, but 90% of the decline occurred in the first three quarters of this period (see chart below). Matthew O’Connell, CEO of Bordeaux Index’s LiveTrade online trading platform, said he felt prices in general were broadly reaching a bottom.

He noted some good buying interest in blue-chip Burgundy and Champagne. A survey by Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, found that ‘most market participants feel that prices are close to bottoming out’.

All major Liv-ex price indices fell in February, however. The Liv-ex 1000 index has fallen more than 25% after peaking in November 2022.

It fell 13% in a Bordeaux-led market downturn after mid-2011, and subsequently saw a period of stagnation.

O’Connell said a more uncertain outlook on possible interest rate cuts in 2025 ‘has slightly tempered our expectations around a near-term recovery in [wine] prices, [but] they can still stabilise for sure,’ he said.

‘Prices are going to have to stabilise before they can go up again.’

Liv-ex said stable pricing could help clear excess stock and attract new consumers. Some auction lots are still captivating bidders.

Christie’s recently sold Comte Georges de Vogüé Burgundies in London. A five-bottle lot of Bonnes Mares 1962 (pictured) fetched £47,500, including buyer’s premium (high estimate: £9,000).

Tim Triptree MW, Christie’s international director for wine and spirits, said: ‘These were superlative and historic vintages from de Vogüé from the 1950s and 1960s, which are rarely seen on the market.’

Triptree and Nick Pegna, global head of wines and spirits at Sotheby’s, said they were encouraged by recent results. The Sotheby’s-hosted Premiere Napa Valley auction saw sales of US$3.3m (£2.56m), up 10% on last year.

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com.

The price history of the wine market across the last 20 years or so shows a pattern of periodic breakout price changes followed by either flat prices or a material price decline, though it’s always by less than the corresponding price increase, such that in a big-picture context, prices have always increased over time.

This pattern has also held true across 2020-2025, with the breakout price change in 2021- 2022 and a subsequent gradual drift. However, we are now seeing that while on the one hand prices are still higher than in 2020, the extent of the price decline is greater than would be expected from studying the historical trend.

There are multiple factors driving this decline, including the higher interest rates environment and the impact on discretionary spending, though we do ultimately expect the point to correct itself and for prices to stabilise in the market before rising, as various participants re-engage with buying wine.

iDealwine to open new outpost in New York City

Online auction specialist iDealwine has said it will open a New York office in April, after reporting a year-on-year sales increase. Lionel Cuenca, iDealwine’s deputy managing director, said ‘momentum of the American market’ and client interest drove its decision to add a New York base to existing offices in Paris, Bordeaux, Beaune, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Despite a difficult market, iDealwine said combined auction and retail turnover rose 6% in 2024 to €53.2m (£44.7m), excluding tax.

Turnover at its International Wine Auction subsidiary rose 15%, to €39.1m, although average price per bottle sold fell 1.9% to €149.

The highest-priced bottle was Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Romanée-Conti 2020, ‘which was bought at auction for €20,375 by an Italian wine enthusiast’, said iDealwine.

Demand for luxury goods down

A challenging period for the fine wine market has partially reflected a slowdown in luxury asset purchases in general, according to the 2025 Wealth Report from global consultancy group Knight Frank.

The Knight Frank Luxury Investment Index, which tracks 10 major collectibles from wine to cars, watches and art, dropped 3.3% in value in 2024.

Fine wine was one of the worst performers, falling 9.1% over 12 months, although the art sub-index dropped 18.3%. Handbags performed best, up 2.8%. The wine sub-index, compiled by Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, was still up 37.4% over 10 years.

Knight Frank’s new report indicates subdued recent demand for luxury collectibles in general.

‘Right now, with equities’ impressive performance, relatively attractive cash yields, and strong traditional safe havens like gold, investors need good reasons to venture into the world of luxury,’ said Knight Frank.

It noted, however, that last year’s wealth report identified ‘joy of ownership’ as a key motivator for investment in collectibles. In the 2025 report, a ‘Next Generation’ survey of 1,788 wealthy 18- to 35-year-olds asked which luxury asset this group would most like to own.

Among respondents, 4.4% said wine, 12.4% said art and 29.8% said high-end property. Yet, Knight Frank said, experiences were key. ‘If our respondents were to receive a substantial windfall, almost half said they would spend the money on experiences rather than material possessions.’

Disclaimer: Decanter’s Marketwatch pages are published for informational purposes only and do not constitute investment advice. Wine prices may vary and they can go down as well as up. Seek independent advice where necessary and be aware that wine investment is unregulated in several markets, including the UK.

Related articles

• Wine investment: Top-tier Burgundy prices soften
• Wine investment: Market malaise hits Bordeaux prices
• Wine investment: Top Champagnes regain their fizz

Prestige Champagne has lost some market traction, but top brands are still considered to have room for growth over the longer term. Global Champagne shipments fell 9.2% in 2024, to 271.4m bottles.

‘Champagne is a barometer of consumer mood,’ said Maxime Toubart, co-president of the Comité Champagne trade body, citing conflict, plus economic and political uncertainty. Top prestige-cuvée Champagnes aren’t wholly immune from macroeconomic factors.

Prices have clearly fallen since late 2022, but they nevertheless remain higher than five years ago, according to data from international merchant Bordeaux Index (see graph below).

Matthew O’Connell, CEO of Bordeaux Index’s LiveTrade online trading platform, said top-tier Champagnes, such as Cristal, Krug and Dom Pérignon, have changed their market context in the past decade, partly via an expanded pool of buyers.

He said the current market needed a catalyst for renewed growth, but added: ‘I do think once prices start going up [again], people will think, “there’s quite a long way these can go up and therefore I should be buying these now”.’

Conditions remain challenging currently. Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, said a bearish trend on its Cristal index ‘has moved firmly into the medium term, but the long term upward trendline remains intact’.

Liv-ex’s Champagne 50 index dropped 25.2% in two years to 31 January, yet was still up 29.4% over five years. LiveTrade’s O’Connell said collectors seeking opportunities could consider middle-aged vintages from 2002 to 2008, which are likely to become more scarce as people begin to pop corks.

Bordeaux Index data showed how Cristal and Dom Pérignon 2002 rose to November 2022 price peaks and fell back (see table, below). Miles Davis, market expert at merchant Vinum Fine Wines, said Champagne has developed a more solid secondary market in the past 10 years.

While current conditions were difficult, trading was still taking place. ‘[For example,] we had quite a big parcel of Dom Pérignon 1996 that sold very well, but it was well priced.’

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com.

The Champagne market was characterised across the second half of 2023, and 2024, by steadily falling prices, following a preceding 18-24 month period in which every prestige Champagne saw a very significant change in price, almost doubling in many cases.

We are left with a situation where there is almost no Champagne that is cheaper now than in 2020 but, equally, pricing sentiment is finely balanced.

Given a significant rise in discretionary spending and global penetration of luxury assets, it was unsurprising that Champagne was a key beneficiary in 2021-2022 – ultimately we anticipate there being much future upside potential for top wines across grande marques and grower Champagnes over the medium term.

Recent release prices have not been helpful in ensuring maintenance of demand in this trickier market environment, but this may rebalance itself over the coming 12-18 months. Where we see the most value is in semi-mature vintages such as 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, where the pricing curve has flattened.

These wines are ready or almost ready to drink, are very strong vintages and are in meaningfully lower supply than for recent vintages; as prices resume an upwards trajectory, these should see the most upside.

Record takings at US charity wine auction

This year’s Naples Winter Wine Festival charity auction in Florida has generated a record total of $34m (£27m), according to organisers. Wealthy attendees competed for luxurious experiences spanning fine wine, gastronomy and travel at the event, held at the Ritz-Carlton Naples, Tiburón hotel at the end of January.

Top-selling lots included ‘Meet Me on the Right Bank’, including a five-night stay at St-Emilion’s Château Troplong Mondot for five couples, and also featuring dinner Michelin one-star Les Belles Perdrix. It sold for $800,000.

An eight-night stay for two couples at various Antinori family properties, from Villa Tignanello in Tuscany to the Umbria estate Castello della Sala, sold for $750,000. Guests will enjoy rare magnums and jeroboams of Antinori wines.

Organised by the Naples Children & Education Foundation, auction proceeds go to non-profit organisations supporting underprivileged children in the local area.

Rare Napa gems in demand

Historic Napa Valley wines have put in eye-catching performances at recent US-based auctions, suggesting bidders continue to cherish rarity amid a subdued general market.

Zachys sold a magnum of Heitz Cellar’s Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 1974 for $11,250 (£9,035), including buyer’s premium, at its ‘Collection of a Lifelong Enthusiast: The Final Installment’ in New York in late January.

Its pre-sale high estimate was $7,500. Featured in Decanter’s ‘Wine legend’ series back in 2017, this wine helped to put California on the modern fine wine world map. Production in the 1974 vintage included 1,200 magnums, said Zachys.

Charles Antin, Zachys’ global head of auction sales, said between one and five magnums of the wine are sold globally each year – making them extremely rare.

Meanwhile, Sotheby’s sold a single bottle of Screaming Eagle’s debut 1992-vintage Cabernet Sauvignon for $21,250, including buyer’s premium (high estimate: $12,000), at ‘The Epicurean’s Atlas: Around the Globe Part II’. Six bottles of Napa Valley’s Harlan Estate, Cabernet Sauvignon 1994 also sold for $12,500 (high e: $11,000).

While trends cannot necessarily be discerned from individual lots, results indicate ongoing strong collector interest in rare Napa Valley gems. Zachys’ Year in Review for 2024 said Bordeaux, Burgundy and California accounted for nearly 80% of sales by value.

Burgundy dominated its 10 top lots sold in 2024, however; led by a 12-bottle collection of Henri Jayer, Cros Parantoux Réserve, Vosne-Romanée 1996, which fetched $137,500, including buyer’s premium.

Disclaimer: Decanter’s Marketwatch pages are published for informational purposes only and do not constitute investment advice. Wine prices may vary and they can go down as well as up. Seek independent advice where necessary and be aware that wine investment is unregulated in several markets, including the UK.

Related articles

• Wine investment: Top-tier Burgundy prices soften
• Wine investment: The fine wine market in 2024
• Wine investment: Top Champagnes in demand

A strong run of vintages makes this a fascinating time to delve deeper into the Nebbiolo strongholds of Barolo and Barbaresco in Piedmont’s rolling hills, where style icons and hidden gems alike offer riches for collectors at all levels.

Piedmont is sometimes described as Italy’s answer to Burgundy, but producers’ masterful work with Nebbiolo in the Langhe hills deserves its own plinth.

What’s more, there is talk of 2019, 2020 and 2021 forming an alluring trilogy, with 2021 as its shining capstone.

A downloadable PDF version of the Collector’s Guide: Piedmont is available here

Some renowned Barolo and Barbaresco ‘cru’ wines are produced in very small quantities and prices can be correspondingly high on the secondary market.

More broadly, though, Piedmont represents a source of relative value for fine wine collectors.

This updated guide focuses mainly on Barolo and Barbaresco, drawing on new data and exclusive reporting for Decanter Premium subscribers to deliver an introductory guide to top names, vintages and recent fine wine market performance.

The Burgundy of Italy?

Creative tension between tradition and modernity has at times boiled over in Piedmont, as witnessed by the so-called ‘Barolo wars’.

Bartolo Mascarello’s famous ‘No barrique, No Berlusconi’ 1998-vintage label epitomised one traditionalist view, alongside a separate political stance.

‘Tensions have eased in recent years as prosperity and compromise have prevailed,’ wrote Tiziano Gaia for Decanter in 2019.

Piedmont’s climatic diversity and the rise of single-vineyard ‘cru’ wines, alongside prized multi-commune blends, have helped to foster comparisons with Burgundy – even though Nebbiolo differs stylistically to Pinot Noir.

While Barolo and Barbaresco sit atop Italy’s wine classification pyramid, with DOCG status, many top sites are further showcased via ‘MGAs’ – Menzione Geografica Aggiuntiva.

There is no premier or grand cru hierarchy, but magic certainly happens when top producers and sites combine.

Michaela Morris, Decanter Italy expert, recently named Giuseppe Mascarello, ‘Monprivato’ Barolo 2006 among her top 10 wines of 2024.

She wrote: ‘It captures both greatness of site and singularity of producer, simply haunting in its exquisitely defined nuances of hazelnut, incense, sweet herbs, raspberry tea and truffles. Fluid and racy with crisp acidity, its long-chained, textured tannins caress the mouth.’ (Score: 98pts).

Barolo and Barbaresco: Prominent producers and wines

Some producers are known for making great wines in both Barolo and Barbaresco DOCGs.

‘Bruno Giacosa’s red-label wines are among the world’s most collectible,’ wrote Morris in a guide to Piedmont reds.

‘The Asili Riserva Barbaresco stands on equal footing with the Falletto Vigna Le Rocche Riserva Barolo.’

Wine Searcher’s 10 most searched-for Barolo wines, as of February 2025, were:

• Giacomo Conterno, ‘Monfortino’ Riserva
• Bartolo Mascarello, Barolo
• Giacomo Conterno, ‘Francia’
• GB Burlotto, ‘Monvigliero’
• Gaja, ‘Sperss’
• Bruno Giacosa, ‘Falletto Vigna Le Rocche’
• Giuseppe Mascarello e Figlio, ‘Monprivato’
• Luciano Sandrone, ‘Le Vigne’
• Luciano Sandrone, ‘Aleste’
• Giuseppe Rinaldi, ‘Brunate’

Wine-Searcher’s five most popular Barbaresco wines were:

• Gaja, Barbaresco.
• Produttori del Barbaresco, Barbaresco.
• Gaja, ‘Sorì San Lorenzo’
• Roagna, ‘Crichët Pajé’
• Bruno Giacosa, ‘Asili’ Riserva.

Other top Barolo producers include:

Vietti

Pio Cesare

Aldo Conterno

Renato Ratti

Marchesi di Barolo

Cappellano

Giacomo Borgogno

Elio Grasso

Fontanafredda

Massolino

E. Pira & Figli

Ceretto

Paolo Scavino

Brovia

Elio Altare

Roberto Voerzio

Elvio Cogno

GD Vajra

Giacomo Fenocchio

Other top Barbaresco producers include:

La Spinetta

Giuseppe Cortese

Albino Rocca

Ca’ del Baio

Bruno Rocca

Castello di Neive

New generations

Several prestigious estates have been run by the ‘next’ generation for some time; Maria Teresa Mascarello, Bruna Giacosa and Roberto [Giacomo] Conterno head their namesake wineries, for instance.

Another trailblazer, Angelo Gaja, has been joined by his daughters, Gaia and Rossana, and son, Giovanni, as reported in the 2020 edition of this Collector’s Guide.

Aldo Fiordelli reviewed Giuseppe Rinaldi’s Brunate 2019 for Decanter, awarding it 100-points and noting it’s the first vintage ‘fully tended by Carlotta and Marta, following their father, Beppe Rinaldi’s death’.

He added: ‘Typically blended with 15% of the Le Coste MGA for an acid drive, its southern exposure seems to be beneficial in this austere vintage.’

Three newer projects to watch

Luca Currado and Elena Penna aren’t exactly ‘new’ names, having sold Vietti to the US-based Krause family in 2016. However, they stopped managing Vietti in 2023 to pursue their own project, under the Cascina Penna-Currado name.

In January 2024, Decanter’s Morris highlighted up-and-coming names making a range of wines across Piedmont, including Australian-born David Fletcher in Barbaresco.

Morris also mentioned ‘Lalù’, with owners Lara Rocchetti and Luisa Sala producing Langhe Nebbiolo and ‘a convincing first Barolo from Le Coste di Monforte’.

Decanter Wine Legend: Giacomo Conterno, Monfortino, Barolo 1978

Cantina Giacomo Conterno’s Monfortino Riserva bottling is a Nebbiolo icon and isn’t produced in every vintage.

‘This was an outstanding year,’ wrote Decanter contributing editor Stephen Brook of the Monfortino 1978, which was the first iteration of the wine sourced entirely from Cascina Francia vineyard in Serralunga.

Average price today: $5,409 per bottle*

*Wine-Searcher global average retail price per 75cl bottle, ex-tax.

Two more Decanter Wine Legends to seek out:

• Bruno Giacosa, Asili, Barbaresco Riserva 2004
• Gaja, Barbaresco 2001

Piedmont 2021: Vintage of the gods?

Nebbiolo has been on a good run of form in this enclave of northern Italy. There is particular excitement about Barolo’s class of 2021, with the first wines due to be released this year (2025).

With 2019 regarded as a five-star year and 2020 also well-rated, this feels like a fine time to be exploring Piedmont.

In the trade, anticipation for the 2021s is right up there with superstar years like 2016 or 2010.

‘Truly for Nebbiolo, [2021] is the vintage of the gods for consumers and collectors,’ said Brett Fleming, MD of UK-based merchant Armit Wines, which represents several producers, including Giacomo Fenocchio, Roagna and Bruno Giacosa.

Fleming noted that it was a hot and dry summer, followed by late-season rain that refreshed the vineyards.

‘The resulting wines are simply outstanding and in my 35-plus years of travelling vineyards, I have not seen anything like 2021,’ he declared.

Down through history: Six five-star years to know

It’s inevitably hard to generalise about such things as ‘the best’ vintage.

Top producers invariably make good wines year-in, year-out, and each growing season also yields its challenges and stylistic nuance.

Nevertheless, looking further back, here are six, five-star Piedmont vintages identified by Decanter contributing editor Stephen Brook in 2021:

2016

2010

2006

2001

1996

1990

Michaela Morris recently gave five stars to 2008 in her review of Barolo vintages in the ‘noughties’, giving this the edge over 2006.

Both 2015 and 2013 are also highly regarded.

‘The 2013 vintage has often struck me as a turning point for [Barbaresco],’ wrote Morris in a retrospective tasting for Decanter Premium, published in January 2024.

‘It started to usher in a young generation and new labels. Furthermore, with 2013, Gaja returned to the Barbaresco fold with the estate’s cru wines [Sorì San Lorenzo, Sorì Tildìn, Costa Russi], and Bruno Giacosa began producing a Rabajà bottling again.’

Release schedules

There is no fixed en primeur release period and winery schedules vary. Minimum ageing requirements run from 1 November after harvest:

Barolo: 38 months (62 months for Riservas), including 18 months in wood.

Barbaresco: 26 months (50 months for Riservas), including nine months in wood.

Some wines are aged longer prior to release and this may vary by vintage. In 2022, Aldo Fiordelli reviewed the 2013 vintage of Roagna’s Crichët Pajé Barbaresco for Decanter (97pts), noting that this vaunted wine is aged for eight years, including four in oak.

UK-based Armit Wines represents Roagna and Bruno Giacosa, and said it normally offers new releases in September and November respectively. It cautioned that its schedule wasn’t yet fixed for 2025, however.

Monfortino update

Merchant Corney & Barrow represents Roberto Conterno’s wines in the UK, tending to launch offers in October. It said recently that Giacomo Conterno, Monfortino Riserva 2019 (98pts, Decanter) should be released in 2025.

It is the first Monfortino since the 2015 vintage, none being made over the course of 2016-2018.

The 2015, initially offered by C&B in 2021 at £1,995 (3x75cl in bond), was the first to contain fruit from the Arione vineyard, acquired by Roberto Conterno earlier that same year, in addition to parcels of Francia.

In October last year, C&B suggested production for Monfortino 2019 was likely to be above the average.

‘[It] will include all the fruit (for Barolo) from both Francia and Arione,’ the merchant said.

Hunting for value in Piedmont

‘Italy produces an incredible array of wines with a high quality to price ratio from both Piedmont and Tuscany, not forgetting other less famous regions, too,’ said Miles Davis, market expert at merchant Vinum Fine Wines in his February 2025 market report.

Savvy collectors and drinkers are tuning in to the opportunities on offer.

Will Hargrove, head of fine wine at Corney & Barrow, said: ‘We have increasingly found that Piedmont is something people want to do. The wines are better made than they’ve ever been.’

He also said release prices have continued to be relatively consistent, a few exceptions aside.

It’s worth trying different bottlings from producers to find styles that delight you most. Beyond Barolo and Barbaresco DOCG, the rising quality (and lower entry cost) of Langhe Nebbiolo can also offer valuable insights into a particular producer’s style.

Roero DOCG across the Tanaro river and also the Alto Piemonte area, including Gattinara DOCG, are well worth exploring, as Michaela Morris explains in her 2023 guide: Get to know Piedmont red wines in three easy steps.

Piedmont is, of course, so much more than Nebbiolo, with fascinating reds made from Barbera and Dolcetto, plus top whites produced with Timorasso and Arneis – to name a few.

Three ‘Value’ Nebbiolo wines under $50*

Antoniolo, Riserva, Gattinara 2017

96pts | $48

Lorella Zoppis Antoniolo normally releases around 20,000 bottles of this Riserva. ‘The attack is relaxing and refined, with firm, dusty, velvety tannins and crisp acidity.’ Aldo Fiordelli.

Produttori del Barbaresco, Barbaresco 2020

94pts | $42

‘Here we have the cooperative of Barbaresco and one known as producing some of the best-priced quality wines in all of Langhe.’ Aldo Fiordelli.

Azelia, Barolo 2019

92pts | $47

‘From 5.5 hectares in Castiglione Falletto…Good concentration for a village Barolo, and one of the greatest price-quality ratios.’ Aldo Fiordelli.

*Wine-Searcher global average retail price per 75cl, ex-tax

Piedmont on the secondary market

Even the most famous Piedmont wines generally compare favourably on price to the top grand cru names of Burgundy.

Piedmont does have a secondary market presence, albeit not to the extent of juggernauts like Burgundy or Bordeaux. Prestige Champagne and Super Tuscans have also grabbed more secondary market share in recent years.

Auction house Zachys listed Piedmont as its fifth best-selling region in terms of sales value in 2024 (see chart below).

Sales realised from Piedmont wines hit nearly $2.1m, out of total wine and spirits auction sales for the year of $63.5m.

Low liquidity

Generally speaking, Piedmont is not a leading force on the secondary market, although top vintages of renowned labels can appreciate in value over the long-term.

Vinum Fine Wines’ Miles Davis said Piedmont is ‘not particularly liquid’ on the secondary market, partly due to small production volumes of individual top wines.

There is also a feeling that many collectors buy wines on release to cellar them and drink them, rather than trade them.

But the pure-investor’s loss is to the collector’s gain, as these wines – while certainly not ‘cheap’ – have not reached price-levels that elicit universal lamentation.

Top-tier Piedmont price performance

Data from Wine-Searcher and Liv-ex suggests a mixed price performance for some of Piedmont’s top-tier wines in recent years.

As a broad guide, the following table shows how average global retail prices for five top names have changed on Wine-Searcher since February 2020.

GB Burlotto is the standout name on this list, although the performance of some other labels is comparable over a longer, 10-year, period.

Wine-Searcher average prices for Conterno’s Monfortino and Bartolo Mascarello, Barolo have more than doubled since early 2015, for instance. Prices will inevitably vary by vintage, and also by market, however.

Piedmont in a sedate fine wine market

Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, tracks prices of both Piedmont and Tuscan wines in its Italy 100 index.

Data supplied to Decanter for this report shows how the Tuscan segment has outperformed its Piedmont counterpart in the last five years.

Chart title: Piedmont vs Tuscany on the Liv-ex Italy 100 index

A boom period on the fine wine secondary market, particularly between 2020 and late 2022, has given way to more subdued activity in the past 24 months.

Higher interest rates and global political and economic uncertainty have been cited as contributing factors to the current malaise.

Prices have fallen back, albeit previous gains have not been entirely eroded in all segments, as frequently reported by Decanter magazine’s Market Watch segment.

Liv-ex’s Italy 100 has been notable for its relative resilience versus other regional indices; it dropped 10.3% in two years to 31 January 2025, while the broad-based Liv-ex 1000 index fell 23.8%.

Yet, the chart above indicates that Piedmont has suffered to a greater extent than top-tier Tuscany (i.e. Super Tuscan wines) – and also didn’t rise by as much in the prior upturn.

There are always exceptions to general trends. Going beyond the Italy 100 index, Liv-ex said prices on some individual Piedmont wines have risen over the past 12 months, while others have fallen sharply.

Liv-ex risers and fallers over 12 months

Prices refer to Liv-ex Market Price, calculated in pounds sterling and calibrated to 12x75cl in bond. Percentage figures are rounded to the nearest whole number.

However, Piedmont’s relatively low liquidity – as previously mentioned – must be taken into account.

None of the wines featured above were among the five most-traded Piedmont wines on Liv-ex in the past year, in value terms.

These were:

• Giacomo Conterno, Monfortino Riserva | 9.3% of Piedmont trade value
• Bartolo Mascarello, Barolo | 6.1%
• Giacomo Conterno, Barolo Francia | 3.8%
• Produttori del Barbaresco, Barbaresco | 3.2%
• Gaja, Barbaresco | 2.8%

What next for the market?

While the fine wine market has a track record of long-term value growth, views were mixed on the nearer-term outlook.

A global survey in late 2024 by consultancy group Wine Lister found one quarter of CEOs and wine department heads expected the wine market to pick up again in 2025, but 49% of respondents said this won’t happen until 2026, and 26% said it would take until 2027 or later.

In the meantime, there could be opportunities for buyers still interested in finding gems for their cellars.

Vinum Fine Wines’ Davis said in January that ‘prestige mature Piedmont’ was one of several things to look out for in 2025.

Given the high anticipation surrounding 2019, 2020 and 2021 as a potential trilogy of very good-to-great vintages in Piedmont, it will be interesting to see how the region’s market context develops in the next few years.

Wine investment: Six things to consider

1. Some of the most prominent fine wines on the secondary market have a track record of increasing in value over time, particularly as available supplies diminish, but nothing is guaranteed. The pool of investment-grade wines is also relatively small.

2. Professional storage in bond is considered important. A wine’s condition and provenance can affect value.

3. Wine investment is unregulated. Only buy wine from reputable sources, and check provenance and condition as carefully as possible before buying.

4. Factor in costs, such as for storage, and possible selling fees. Storage is often charged at a fixed annual rate.

5. Some auction houses have previously told Decanter that full cases tend to be more in-demand, although limited-production wines may be released or allocated in smaller quantities – such as three-bottle cases.

6. If unsure, always seek professional advice.

Report by Chris Mercer for Decanter Premium. A freelance journalist and former editor of Decanter.com, Chris has written about the global fine wine market for more than a decade

Click here to join Decanter Premium now and enjoy instant access to the latest Bordeaux 2020 En Primeur Collector’s guide, as well as past Collector’s Guide’s including, Left Bank Bordeaux, Napa, Burgundy and the Rhône.

Disclaimer

Please note that this report has been published purely for informational purposes and does not constitute financial or investment advice. The report includes Wine-Searcher monthly global average retail prices in US$ to provide a consistent point of comparison, as well as data and opinion from other trade sources. All of this information is subject to change, and the prices and availability of wines cited will vary between countries, currencies and retailers. Decanter and the editorial team behind this report do not accept liability for the ongoing accuracy of its contents. Seek independent and professional advice where necessary and be aware that wine investment is unregulated in several markets. Please be aware that prices can go down as well as up.

Related articles

• Collector’s guide: Bordeaux 2020 En Primeur
• Collector’s Guide: Right Bank Bordeaux
• Collector’s Guide: Left Bank Bordeaux
• Collector’s guide: The rise of Piedmont
• Collector’s guide: Napa Valley wine

Bordeaux prices have dropped notably over the past 24 months, according to data from international merchant Bordeaux Index (see chart below).

This partly reflects a wider market malaise, although Bordeaux didn’t rise by as much as Burgundy, Champagne and Tuscany in the prior boom period.

Matthew O’Connell, CEO of the LiveTrade online trading platform at Bordeaux Index, said trading activity on Bordeaux ‘is pretty muted and it’s not obvious what the catalyst [for growth] is’. Bordeaux remains a cornerstone of the market, yet it has been facing a ‘significant stock overhang’, said Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade.

It said that a relatively high number of Bordeaux wines were trading below their release prices, although trading in older vintages, from 2009 and back, was more resilient.

Liv-ex’s Bordeaux 500 index fell 21.3% in value in two years to 31 December, and was also down 4.1% over five years.

The Fine Wine 50 index, which tracks first growths, has dropped 8.7% in five years. Several global trade leaders recently said to consultancy group Wine Lister that Bordeaux is likely to see resurgent demand in the next five years. O’Connell said that Bordeaux would likely benefit from any pick-up in the broader market.

Bordeaux 2015: 10 years on

Bordeaux Index’s annual ’10 Years On’ tasting in February focuses on the well-regarded Bordeaux 2015 vintage. This could be a prompt for buyers, depending on how critics view the wines, suggested O’Connell.

Price performances have been mixed since en primeur. Château Haut-Brion 2015 was being offered on LiveTrade at its original UK release price of £4,250 (12x75cl in bond).

Château Margaux 2015, the final vintage of the estate’s late, great MD Paul Pontallier, was offered at £8,600 – double its UK release price. Figeac 2015 was up by 52% versus its UK release price, with Mouton Rothschild and Angélus up 2% and 8% respectively, LiveTrade data showed. La Mission HautBrion 2015 was down 25%

The Bordeaux Index view

Bordeaux currently occupies an unusual position in the fine wine market. It remains the most significantly traded region – due to the overall quantities available and prominence – but at the same time it has perhaps the most subdued relative demand dynamics across the collector base.

The trajectory of prices – which have been pretty flat across five years and down across the last couple – struggles to attract investment-focused buyers, while there is an argument that collectors are looking elsewhere and are potentially jaded by successive muted en primeur campaigns.

This makes for difficult reading for Bordeaux enthusiasts, due to the remarkably high quality and consistency levels of wines from the region – especially in the last decade or so. Some believe that a resumption in overall fine wine market momentum might particularly benefit Bordeaux, while others tend to think that the region has to make some changes in its pricing and distribution to catalyse overall activity.

We potentially sit between these two positions, retaining great enthusiasm for the region and its significance but conscious that certain changes could drive outsized recovery of interest.

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com.

Expert’s unsure about fine wine market’s future

Opinions are split among global trade leaders on when the fine wine market will see a broad return to growth, according to a recently released survey.

One quarter of the 53 CEOs and wine department heads surveyed by consultancy group Wine Lister said they expected the wine market to pick up again in 2025, but 49% of respondents said this won’t happen until 2026, and 26% said it would take until 2027 or later.

Respondents from Asia were the most downbeat. Those in the Americas were the most optimistic, with Europe-based trade leaders in the middle, said Wine Lister in its annual Wine Leagues report.

When asked what could help the market, 80% of respondents said lower release prices for fine wines and 68% said a stronger Asian market.

Lower interest rates and greater geopolitical stability were also cited as important factors.

Unico bucks the market trend

Vega Sicilia has reasserted its credentials as a name to watch on the market, and the 2015 vintage of its flagship Unico debuted in early 2025. Unico 2015 was offered at £837 per 3x75cl in bond in January (Bordeaux Index, Lay & Wheeler).

A month earlier, Vega Sicilia became the first Spanish winery to top the annual Liv-ex Power 100 ranking of secondary market performance.

Vega Sicilia was ‘one of 2024’s few bright spots’ in a subdued market, said Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade. ‘Starting from a relatively low level, [Vega Sicilia] trade value is up 455.8% on last year,’ it said.

Prices haven’t shot up, though. Unico 2013 saw relatively strong trading, but its price dipped 3% in 12 months to 3 January, Liv-ex data showed.

Matthew O’Connell, CEO of the LiveTrade online trading platform at Bordeaux Index, said Vega Sicilia generally sees good buyer interest. Auction houses Hart Davis Hart (HDH) and Christie’s offered a variety of Unico vintages in late 2024. Highlights included:

• Unico 1981 (9x75cl) sold for $5,377.50 Unico 1975 (£4,409; high e: $4,500, HDH)

• Unico 1995 (11x75cl) sold for $5,736 (high e: $5,500, HDH)

• Unico 2004 (12x75cl) sold for $3,824 (high e: $3,800, HDH)

• Unico 1970 in magnum (3x150cl) sold for $8,125 (high e: $7,500, Christie’s)

• Unico 1975 (3x75cl) sold for $2,500 (high e: $2,800, Christie’s)

Sales prices include buyer’s premium.

Disclaimer: Decanter’s Marketwatch pages are published for informational purposes only and do not constitute investment advice. Wine prices may vary and they can go down as well as up. Seek independent advice where necessary and be aware that wine investment is unregulated in several markets, including the UK.

Related articles

• Wine investment: Top-tier Burgundy prices soften
• Wine investment: The fine wine market in 2024
• Wine investment: Top Champagnes in demand

Bordeaux prices have dropped in the past 24 months amid a wider fine wine market malaise, according to data in the Market Watch section of Decanter magazine’s newly published March 2025 issue.

Market Watch, which is also published on Decanter Premium, is sponsored by international merchant Bordeaux Index and its LiveTrade online trading platform.

‘Bordeaux currently occupies an unusual position in the fine wine market,’ said Bordeaux Index, giving its view on the region’s performance.

‘It remains the most significantly traded region – due to the overall quantities available and prominence – but at the same time it has perhaps the most subdued relative demand dynamics across the collector base.’

It noted that wine quality is remarkably high, especially in the last decade or so, but also that ‘there is an argument that collectors are looking elsewhere and are potentially jaded by successive muted en primeur campaigns’.

The merchant added, ‘Some believe that a resumption in overall fine wine market momentum might particularly benefit Bordeaux, while others tend to think that the region has to make some changes in its pricing and distribution to catalyse overall activity.

‘We potentially sit between these two positions, retaining great enthusiasm for the region and its significance but conscious that certain changes could drive outsized recovery of interest.’

Bordeaux Index is hosting a critical reappraisal of top Bordeaux 2015-vintage wines in February, and the resultant scores could be interesting to watch. LiveTrade data suggested mixed price performances on several high-profile wines since en primeur release.

Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, recently noted a ‘significant stock overhang’ affecting younger Bordeaux vintages on the market, in particular. Its Bordeaux 500 index was down by around 4% in value in five years to the end of 2024.

This month’s Market Watch section also features survey data from consultancy group Wine Lister, which recently found that respondents were split on when the fine wine market might see more of a general recovery.

Fine wine calendar: dates for the diary

This month’s ‘Coming Up’ column includes:

Château Latour 2016: the first growth said it is planning to launch Château Latour 2016, a benchmark vintage for Bordeaux, on the market for the first time in mid-March.

Hospices de Nuits-St-Georges auction: Burgundy’s annual ‘Hospices de Nuits’ charity auction has gained in prominence and follows a similar format to its cousin, Hospices de Beaune. The 64th edition will take place on 9 March at Château du Clos de Vougeot. Auction host iDealwine said that bidders can participate in-person, as well as online and by phone.

La Paulée: this year marks the 25th anniversary of La Paulée festival for Burgundy wines in the US. Events will take place in San Francisco (27 February to 1 March), Blackberry Farm in Tennessee (2-5 March) and New York City (5-8 March), said the organisers. See the La Paulée website for further details.

Please note: release schedules are subject to change.

Next month’s Market Watch, in Decanter’s March 2025 issue, takes a closer look at Champagne on the fine wine market.

Related articles

• Burgundy 2023 vintage report: our en primeur verdict
• Fine wine market in 2024: How did it go?
• The making of a megastar: Masseto

Opportunistic buyers have been replenishing their cellars with blue-chip Burgundy at lower prices in recent months, according to merchant commentary cited in the Market Watch section of Decanter magazine’s new-look January 2025 issue.

The monthly Market Watch pages, also published on Decanter Premium, are sponsored by international merchant Bordeaux Index and its LiveTrade online trading platform.

It’s been a subdued couple of years for fine wine, with prices of famous names falling on the secondary market following strong gains.

When it comes to top-tier Burgundy, though, some buyers returned to the fold in 2024.

Bordeaux Index reported a big recovery in trading volumes of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC) and Rousseau wines in the first nine months of last year.

Giving its view on the market situation, Bordeaux Index said, ‘This is because Burgundy is very much a specific and distinct part of the market, where the supply-demand dynamics that govern all wine pricing are especially acute.

‘Even in a period of falling prices, buyers are aware that pristine top Burgundy is rare, when global demand is considered, and therefore opportunities to buy attractively will not necessarily be repeated.’

Matthew Hemming MW, group wine director at Vinum Fine Wines, with offices in the UK, Singapore and Taiwan, also reported a bounce for Roumier and Rousseau wines.

However, the near-term outlook remained uncertain, according to some analysts. Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, said in late 2024 that its analysis suggested DRC prices may have further to fall in the current downturn.

On a broader level, Burgundy’s 2023-vintage en primeur release season is underway in January 2025. Several merchants offer commentary on the campaign in Decanter print magazine’s Uncorked section.

Fine wine calendar: coming up

Decanter’s monthly Market Watch pages also feature a Coming Up column, highlighting events, releases and auctions for collectors to look out for.

This month includes:

• Naples Winter Wine Festival runs from 24 to 26 January in Florida. This annual event features a charity auction of one-of-a-kind lots spanning fine wine, gastronomy and luxury travel.
• DRC is expected to release its 2022-vintage wines in 2025. The Domaine’s UK agent, Corney & Barrow said it would launch its offer in February.
• Leading SuperTuscan wine Sassicaia is also set to see its 2022 vintage released in February. Armit Wines, UK agent for producer Tenuta San Guido, said it planned to release Sassicaia 2022 on 13 February, and launch Le Difese 2023 around the same time.

Please note: release schedules are subject to change.

Next month’s Market Watch, in Decanter’s February 2025 issue, takes a closer look at Bordeaux on the fine wine market.

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Opportunistic collectors have been replenishing their cellars with blue-chip Burgundy wines at lower prices, but the market’s near-term outlook has remained uncertain. Buyer interest in certain top-tier Burgundy producers picked up in 2024, within a challenging fine wine trading environment, according to some merchants.

Bordeaux Index reported ‘a big recovery’ in trading volumes of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC) and Rousseau wines in the first nine months of 2024, for example.

Geraint Carter, of the investment team at Bordeaux Index, cited the merchant’s access to ‘impressive single-owner collections’, but also said price corrections on top-end Burgundy have ‘created attractive entry points for buyers to restock their cellars’.

Blue-chip Burgundy prices dropped by an average of about a quarter in the two years to 30 September 2024, according to data from Bordeaux Index and its LiveTrade online trading platform (see chart below). Prices remained 21% higher than in September 2018, though.

Matthew Hemming MW, group wine director at Vinum Fine Wines, with offices in Singapore, Taiwan and the UK, said many established Burgundy names on the market have seen a bounce.

Top names such as Rousseau and Roumier have a pedigree, and ‘the market recognises the [wines’] fundamental quality’, Hemming said. ‘I think [they] have dropped off in price to a point where people were prepared to come back in. And in the last few weeks and months, we’ve seen volume of trade in things like Rousseau really pick up again.’

Some data offered a more cautious view of Burgundy trading, amid a mixture of subdued wine market atmosphere and macroeconomic uncertainty. Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, said in November the bid-to-offer ratio for wines in its Burgundy 150 index was 0.14, down from 0.3 in September.

Following the recent downturn, it said its analysis concluded that several DRC wines may fall further in price, particularly Echezeaux.

Yet, it added: ‘There is some indication that Romanée-Conti and La Tâche are closer to their price floors.’

It highlighted DRC’s Romanée-Conti as a potential opportunity for buyers with enough capital. Taking a long view, Liv-ex said all DRC wines ‘have seen dramatic price increases over the past 20 years’.

The Bordeaux Index view

Burgundy has been an interesting segment of the wine market across 2023-2024, with the outsized price gains from 2021-2022 partially reversing.

While this has at times seemed slightly dramatic, the context that top Burgundy prices remain firmly above their 2021 levels suggests the contrary.

The noteworthy dynamic from 2024 in particular is that falling prices have catalysed buying activity (in contrast to Champagne, for example, where the price pattern isn’t dissimilar).

This is because Burgundy is very much a specific and distinct part of the market, where the supply-demand dynamics that govern all wine pricing are especially acute. Even in a period of falling prices, buyers are aware that pristine top Burgundy is rare, when global demand is considered, and therefore opportunities to buy attractively will not necessarily be repeated.

January will see the 2023 vintage Burgundy en primeur campaign, likely at pricing similar to the excellent 2022 vintage. This won’t trouble the top blue-chip wines but will no doubt be more problematic for the tiers below, where buyer appetite is overstated in up-markets and resale liquidity is poor – they are wines that simply look expensive even at today’s levels.

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com.

Proceeds down at smaller Hospices auction

Sales at the 164th Hospices de Beaune charity auction in November hit €14.4m (£12m), excluding buyer’s premium, host Sotheby’s has said. That’s down from sales of nearly €23.3m in 2023.

Burgundy’s smaller 2024 harvest was significant; the latest auction featured 449 lots, versus 770 a year earlier. Sotheby’s said the average price per barrel sold in 2024 rose slightly, to €31,540.

It also reported a record number of registrants for the sale, and participants in 32 countries. The ‘presidents’ barrel’ – a special charity lot that contained Beaune 1er cru Les Bressandes in 2024 – sold for €360,000 to Brazil’s Alaor Pereira Lino, of merchant Anima Vinum, who has created a museum for Hospices de Beaune wines.

One participant donated an extra €100,000 to the presidents’ barrel’s chosen charities: Médecins Sans Frontières and the Global Gift Foundation.

Tignanello under the hammer

Bidders have competed for a piece of Tuscan vinous history at a Christie’s auction of Tignanello wines sourced directly from the winery, and featuring the debut 1971 vintage.

Two single-bottle lots of Tignanello 1971 fetched £813 and £750, including buyer’s premium, versus a pre-sale high estimate of £500 per lot. Christie’s held the London auction to mark 50 years since Italy’s Antinori winemaking family first released Tignanello, a Sangiovese-dominant blend that includes classic ‘Bordeaux’ grape varieties, but sitting outside the Chianti Classico denomination.

The wine is today considered a pioneer of the Super Tuscan movement. ‘The saleroom was buzzing with many bidders,’ said Tim Triptree MW, the international director for Christie’s wines & spirits department.

All lots sold, he said. A nine-magnum lot spanning every vintage produced between 2000 and 2009 sold for £5,250, including buyer’s premium (high estimate: £4,000); there is no Tignanello 2002 vintage. A 225-litre barrel of Tignanello 2024, scheduled for release in 2027 and to be bottled in a format of the buyer’s choice, sold for £47,000 (estimate: £24,000 to £50,000).

Three double magnums (3x300cl) of Tignanello 1999, 2000 and 2001 sold for £5,000 (high estimate: £2,800). Marchese Piero Antinori described Tignanello as a ‘milestone in Tuscan winemaking’, and ‘the wine that I’m probably most attached to’.

Prices for top Super Tuscan wines on the secondary market have dipped since late 2022, but remained historically high after strong gains prior to this (see November 2024 issue).

Disclaimer: Decanter’s Marketwatch pages are published for informational purposes only and do not constitute investment advice. Wine prices may vary and they can go down as well as up. Seek independent advice where necessary and be aware that wine investment is unregulated in several markets, including the UK.

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Muted trading and a downward drift in prices have been key themes on the fine wine market in 2024, despite some exceptions among older vintages, suggests data in the Market Watch section of Decanter magazine’s December 2024 issue.

The monthly Market Watch pages are sponsored by international merchant Bordeaux Index, which includes the recently relaunched LiveTrade online trading platform.

Prices have fallen to varying degrees across the major fine wine regions making up the bulk of the secondary market during 2024.

Giving its view on the market situation in the current Decanter magazine issue, Bordeaux Index said: ‘As we come to the end of 2024, the fine wine market continues to see very muted enthusiasm from buyers, something which appears to us to be not specific to the wine market but rather luxury goods and discretionary spending more generally.’

Price indices for top Bordeaux, Burgundy, SuperTuscan and Champagne wines have all dropped during the year, shows Bordeaux Index data, but it also said that declines have not been dramatic.

Some individual wines have bucked the trend by rising in price this year, its data showed.

Matthew O’Connell, CEO of LiveTrade, said there were some signs of improving sentiment, although he cautioned that the timing of a market turnaround remained uncertain.

The section also features data from Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, as well as insight from Nick Pegna, global head of wine and spirits at Sotheby’s auction house.

Recent auction results have shown that there continues to be interest in rare bottles, such as Château Latour 1865 sourced direct from the estate and sold by Christie’s in Hong Kong.

However, Decanter.com also reported this month that an auction in Denmark saw no takers for bottles of lauded Cheval Blanc 1947.

See more upcoming events for the diary and read the fine wine market analysis on Decanter Premium, or in Decanter’s newly released December 2024 issue.

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Rare 19th-century Château Latour and Burgundy have lit up the auction scene in Hong Kong in recent weeks, with Château La Mission Haut-Brion starring in London.

A Christie’s auction of wines sourced from estates owned by Artémis Domaines – controlled by French billionaire François Pinault – saw a bottle of Château Latour 1865 sell for HK$812,500 (£80,500), including buyer’s premium. That outpaced a pre-sale high estimate of HK$220,000.

Produced when Napoleon III was emperor of France and reconditioned in 1990, the wine was joint-top lot in the sale, alongside a five-litre jeroboam of Latour 1961 (sold for HK$812,500; high estimate: HK$650,000).

From Burgundy, a bottle of Chambertin 1865 from Bouchard Père & Fils sold for HK$625,000 (high estimate: HK$300,000), and a bottle of the domaine’s Montrachet 1864 fetched HK$437,500 (high estimate: HK$150,000). Another major ex-cellar auction, hosted by Sotheby’s in London and featuring La Mission Haut-Brion wines, saw large-format bottles from famous 1980s vintages take centre stage.

A five-litre jeroboam of La Mission Haut-Brion 1989 sold for £13,750, including buyer’s premium (high e: £8,500), while a jeroboam of the 1982 vintage realised £12,500 (high e: £6,500).

Held to mark 40 years since Domaine Clarence Dillon acquired the estate, the 7 November sale also featured a number of older wines. A bottle of La Mission Haut-Brion 1929, one of the wines featured in the Decanter Wine Legend series, sold for £6,875 (high e: £3,200).

Duty cuts could boost Hong Kong’s trading hub status

A Hong Kong government decision to significantly cut duty tax on premium spirits (from 100% to 10% on spirits [above 30% abv] with an import price of more than HK$200 per litre) could benefit the territory’s position as a trading hub for fine whiskies.

Adam Bilbey, global head of wine and spirits at auction house Christie’s, said: ‘I feel this will encourage Hong Kong- based collectors to purchase more globally and help Hong Kong become one of the global destinations for fine spirits.’

At Sotheby’s, global head of wine and spirits Nick Pegna said: ‘The reduction in spirits duty will certainly provide some benefits to buyers of rare spirits in Hong Kong, but is probably not the seismic shift in the global market that the zeroing of wine duty [in Hong Kong] was in 2008.’

Fine wine market review for 2024

Muted trading and a downward drift in prices have been key themes on the fine wine market in 2024, although there are exceptions, particularly among older vintages.

There has been relatively low selling and buying activity in fine wine in 2024, according to Matthew O’Connell, CEO of the LiveTrade online trading platform at international merchant Bordeaux Index.

Bordeaux Index fine wine indices for Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne and Tuscany show that prices have drifted lower during the 10 months to 30 October (see chart).

Some wines have bucked the trend. The top five price risers in 2024 year-to-date, according to Bordeaux Index data, were: Cos d’Estournel 2000 (+12%), Cheval Blanc 1990 (+11%), Solaia 2015 (+10%), Solaia 2013 (+7%) and Léoville Las Cases 1990 (+7%).

Nick Pegna, the global head of wine and spirits at auction house Sotheby’s, said: ‘The fine wine market in 2024 has been a buyer’s market, but one where if wines have met three key criteria, they sold well. These criteria are: impeccable provenance, rarity and maturity. Thus, immature wines in plentiful supply struggled.’

He added: ‘From a buyer’s perspective, there have been some great bargains, as well as some record prices.’

Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, said in November: ‘While the market is undoubtedly bearish, prices are, in some cases, falling to levels that are low enough to attract buyers.’

It reported several Bordeaux wines trading in higher volumes, but that were also last traded below their ‘ex-London’ en primeur release prices. These included Châteaux Figeac, Léoville Las Cases, Pichon Baron, Palmer and Troplong Mondot from the highly rated 2019 vintage.

O’Connell said fine wine prices had ‘probably drifted about as much as they’re going to’, but added: ‘I don’t think it’s a case of prices needing to be cheaper for people to partake.’

He said a fundamental issue was the present relative lack of enthusiasm for buying fine wine, and luxury goods in general. He linked this to certain macroeconomic factors – including elevated interest rates – that have affected discretionary spending.

However, O’Connell observed that some categories are generating more interest. Rare Burgundy, as well as semi-mature Bordeaux and Champagne, may offer opportunities at current prices for any buyers wishing to get involved, he said.

The Bordeaux Index view

As we come to the end of 2024, the fine wine market continues to see very muted enthusiasm from buyers, something which appears to us to be not specific to the wine market but rather luxury goods and discretionary spending more generally.

Prices have drifted across the year but not at all dramatically, something which supports our view that the dynamic with market activity is one of demand rather than price sensitivity.

The outlook appears to be improving and there is increasing trading in rarer wines such as top Burgundies, where price declines look overdone. The timing of a full resumption of activity is less clear though, potentially linked to various macro factors.

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com.

Disclaimer: Decanter’s Marketwatch pages are published for informational purposes only and do not constitute investment advice. Wine prices may vary and they can go down as well as up. Seek independent advice where necessary and be aware that wine investment is unregulated in several markets, including the UK.

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Legendary wines have gone under the hammer during the auction houses’ autumn sales season, from Hong Kong to the US.

Château Mouton Rothschild 1945, a Decanter Wine Legend, was the top-selling lot at the Christie’s Epic Cellar II auction in Hong Kong in early October. Twelve bottles in their original wooden case (OWC) sold for HK$1.25m (£123,321), including buyer’s premium (pre-sale high estimate: HK$1.1m).

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Romanée-Conti 1990 achieved the second highest price, at HK$937,500 for six bottles (OWC; high e: HK$900,000).

Despite reports of cautious buyer sentiment across the market, US auction house Hart Davis Hart said its two-day auction in late September was 100% sold: all 3,174 lots found buyers.

France’s 1961 red wine vintage was a highlight: 12 bottles of Château Figeac 1961 sold for US$19,120 (£14,622; high e:$8,500), and one bottle of Paul Jaboulet Aîné’s lauded Hermitage, La Chapelle 1961 sold for $8,365 (high e: $6,500).

Also in the US, Sotheby’s recently offered its latest instalment of The Epicurean’s Atlas series, featuring wines from collector Pierre Chen. Several white Burgundy lots starred, including 12 bottles of Coche-Dury, Meursault Perrières 1999, which sold for $50,000 (high e: $50,000).

In the UK, meanwhile, merchant Berry Bros & Rudd announced that it will hold wine and spirits auctions for collectors worldwide, beginning in autumn 2024.

NB: final sale prices include buyer’s premium.

Premium wine and spirit releases

From top Champagne to luxury Japanese whisky, several fine wine and spirits launches of significance have been announced in recent weeks.

Rare Champagne is releasing its 2012 vintage, as reported by Decanter‘s Champagne correspondent, Tom Hewson, who gave it a score of 96-points.

The 2012 is an excellent year and Rare’s cellar master, Emilien Boutillat, likened the wine to the celebrated 2002 vintage.

Elsewhere, Champagne Louis Roederer said it was releasing five vintages of ‘Late Release Rosé Vintage’, from 1995 to 1999, after more than 20 years of ageing in its cellars.

The wines carry a recommended retail price of £315 per bottle, said Roederer-owned distributor Maisons Marques & Domaines in the UK.

In spirits, House of Suntory said it was releasing 400 bottles of ‘ultra-luxury’ Hibiki 40 Year Old Japanese whisky at US$35,000 per bottle.

Top Super Tuscans stay strong

Prices for top Super Tuscans have been relatively resilient in a challenging fine wine market, suggests new data.

An index of Sassicaia, Tignanello, Ornellaia and Solaia wines has fallen 6% since peaking around the end of 2022, having risen strongly in the prior five years, said international merchant Bordeaux Index, based on executed transaction data.

It said the broader market, meanwhile, has fallen 20% since prices peaked two years ago (see chart below). ‘[Super Tuscan] prices have come off less than for some other regions,’ observed Matthew O’Connell, CEO of Bordeaux Index’s LiveTrade online trading platform.

Data from Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, also shows its Italy 100 index – tracking Super Tuscan and Piedmont wines – dropped 9.6% in two years to 30 September, while the broader Liv-ex 1000 fell 22%.

O’Connell said fairly limited supplies and ongoing demand have underpinned pricing on top-tier SuperTuscans. ‘It’s like the situation with a few [Bordeaux] Super Seconds,’ he said. ‘There’s good brand recognition, including among new entrants to the wine market.’

He also highlighted the wines’ strong presence on restaurant lists.

O’Connell added that the best vintages can command big premiums. The 2021-vintage wines, released this year with hallowed 100-point scores in some cases, could be worth watching closely in this context.

It’s early days, though. Liv-ex said Sassicaia 2021 traded at £3,114 (12x75cl in bond) in March, but recent trading activity ‘indicates it may be stabilising around the £2,500-£2,600 mark, flat on its ex-London release price’.

Most Liv-ex fine wine indices declined by small degrees in September, suggesting the market remains in choppy waters.

Alex Turnbull, head of private and online sales at London-based merchant Jeroboams, said: ‘After Bordeaux, Tuscany was our second biggest-selling region in September by value.

‘A string of excellent vintages, high scores and genuine value in release prices has led wines like Ornellaia, Masseto and Solaia to sell out quickly on release and remain on strict allocation.’

Turnbull also highlighted growing demand for other SuperTuscan wines. O’Connell said active trading revolves around a tight-knit group of top names, however.

See Decanter Premium for our expert Collectors’ Guide to Tuscany

The Bordeaux Index view

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com.

Super Tuscans have enjoyed a great increase in market awareness and demand over the last decade – this was especially pronounced during 2020 and 2022 when the prices of Sassicaia, Solaia, Ornellaia and Tignanello rose by more than 60%. The subsequent retracement in pricing has been less than 10%.

The ‘brand’ following for these wines is high and this likely explains both the scale of the uptick and the resilience of this category in the recent market downturn.

Perhaps the missing piece of the puzzle is that available volumes are of course small, for there are only these four names with such buyer awareness, and restaurants and similar establishments take a substantial quantity from the marketplace soon after release.

So far so good, but the strength of the brand following for this small group is a more balanced point for the rest of the SuperTuscan category where demand has not followed, despite the high quality to be found here.

This applies to Super Tuscans (international blends) as well as top Chianti and Brunello di Montalcino wines, with only very few exceptions. There is still remarkable value to be found in those categories.

Disclaimer: Decanter’s Marketwatch pages are published for informational purposes only and do not constitute investment advice. Wine prices may vary and they can go down as well as up. Seek independent advice where necessary and be aware that wine investment is unregulated in several markets, including the UK.

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Fantastic Chardonnay can be found worldwide, but Burgundy remains the benchmark and a must-have for any serious white wine collector.

Some of the world’s greatest white wines are forged in the Côte d’Or, while the splendour of Chablis and rise of the Mâconnais attest to Burgundy’s rich variety of terroir-driven producers.

As with red Burgundy, a global clamour for small quantities of wines from the best vineyards and producers often translates to tight allocations.

Prices on the secondary market remain at historically high levels, although a recent fine-wine market downturn may present collectors with opportunities.

This guide focuses mainly on the white wines of the Côte d’Or, drawing on new expert commentary and exclusive reporting for Decanter Premium subscribers to highlight recent developments, ways to approach the region and its momentum on the fine wine market.

A downloadable PDF version of the White Burgundy Collector’s Guide is available here

White Burgundy in the Côte d’Or landscape

Burgundy’s patchwork quilt of vineyard ‘climats’ is a treasure trove for collectors, reflecting geological diversity and centuries of viticultural refinement.

Many prized white wines are made in the Côte de Beaune, the southern half of the famous Côte d’Or, around the villages (communes) of Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet.

Others hail from the Corton hill, just north of Beaune itself, while some white wines are also produced in the Côte de Nuits, such as Domaine Comte George de Vogüé’s Musigny Blanc.

Producers typically make a variety of wines in a vineyard-based classification system led by grand cru sites, followed by a premier cru tier, village-denominated bottlings and regional ‘Bourgogne’ wines.

A Bourgogne Côte d’Or category was created in 2017, sitting above the general regional Bourgogne level.

Montrachet and family

Montrachet is a hallowed site for white wine, once tended by Cistercian monks and today spanning eight hectares shared between Puligny and Chassagne (where it’s known as ‘Le Montrachet’). Prices can range from several hundred to several thousand per bottle – of any currency of your choice.

The neighbouring grands crus using the Montrachet name are also highly regarded.

Charles Curtis MW, Decanter’s Burgundy correspondent, said of Domaine Leflaive’s Bâtard-Montrachet 2019: ‘Balance is always the hallmark of the Bâtard from Leflaive as the fresh minerality of the Puligny side plays against the luxurious ripe, almost tropical notes of the south-facing Chassagne side of the vineyard.’

Meursault magic

Meursault has no grand cru, but its premier cru Perrières is often considered at this level.

Curtis recently tasted Domaine Roulot’s 2022-vintage Perrières (96 points) for Decanter Premium: ‘This is a breathtaking, complex wine, showing notes of lime peel to coconut water, passionfruit and mint, with a savoury, almost gamey undercurrent and a pronounced saline minerality,’ he said, adding that savvy collectors will wait at least a decade to uncork it.

Prominent white Burgundy producers

Domaine Coche-Dury is a leading name, and its village-level Meursault was the most searched-for white Burgundy on Wine-Searcher.com in September 2024.

Domaine Leflaive has five spots in the top 10. It is a revered name and pioneer of biodynamic farming – spearheaded by the late Anne-Claude Leflaive.

Her nephew, Brice de la Morandière, has continued her legacy.

Such lists can only ever scratch the surface of what Burgundy offers, but other key producers not highlighted in the ranking above include:

• Domaine d’Auvenay – part of the Leroy stable
• Domaine des Comtes Lafon
• Ramonet
• Roulot
• Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey
• Henri Boillot
• William Fèvre (now in the DBR Lafite portfolio)
• Billaud-Simon

More names to know

Curtis highlighted several more producers for collectors to consider, in addition to the well-known names cited above.

‘I think all [these producers] can be trusted throughout their range, if the exalted realms of grand cru and Meursault Perrières are out of reach.’

The ranges of négociant-producer houses are also worth exploring, such as Puligny-based Olivier Leflaive, plus also Louis Latour, Louis Jadot, Joseph Drouhin, Bouchard Père & Fils and Faiveley.

Three developments to watch

Bouchard Père & Fils: New owner Artémis Domaines, the fine-wine group controlled by French billionaire François Pinault, plans to put more focus on prestigious wines, Artémis’ MD recently told La Revue du Vin de France.

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC) in Corton-Charlemagne: This vaunted producer released its third vintage (2021) of Corton-Charlemagne grand cru earlier in 2024, having leased 2.9ha from Bonneau du Martray – split between the En Charlemagne and Le Charlemagne climats.

Domaine Pierre Vincent: Domaine Leflaive general manager Pierre Vincent is to leave at the end of 2024 to focus on his namesake winery, after acquiring Domaine des Terres de Velle with two friends. ‘A recent tasting of the inaugural vintages raised hopes of an exciting new domaine to follow,’ Curtis wrote for Decanter.

DRC Montrachet Grand Cru production

A snapshot of yields in the three most recently released vintages of DRC, Montrachet, sourced from the offer brochures of Corney & Barrow, exclusive UK agent for DRC.

2021 (released in 2024): 13.5 hectolitres per hectare (hl/ha) | 102 cases (12x75cl)

2020: 40.8hl/ha | 295 cases

2019: 24hl/ha | 184 cases

Further back, severe frost in 2016 led to seven producers, including Leflaive and DRC, pooling grapes to make two barrels of Montrachet grand cru, named L’Exceptionnelle Vendanges des Sept Domaines.

Top white Burgundy vintages

Great winemakers can deliver sumptuous wines irrespective of vintage conditions, and Burgundy’s sheer size further impedes generalisation.

‘In Chablis, you’re closer to Troyes in Champagne than you are to Dijon, let alone Beaune, Chalon or Mâcon,’ wrote Decanter contributing editor Andrew Jefford in 2018.

Caveats aside, recent vintages represent a good run of form for quality. Decanter ratings show four stars (out of five) for white Burgundy in 2022, 2021, 2019 and 2018, rising to 4.5 stars in 2020.

Vineyard positioning can aid winemaking skill. In praising Bruno Colin’s Chassagne-Montrachet, 1er Cru Chaumées 2020 (93pts), Curtis noted the site’s east-facing aspect at the top of the slope, with thin, stony soils over limestone.

‘This is a great terroir for a hot year such as 2020,’ he wrote.

Five Decanter five-star vintages: 2014, 2002, 1995, 1989 and 1969.

Rollercoaster yields

Yields can vary significantly between vintages in Burgundy. ‘These sudden variations seem to have become more pronounced in recent years,’ said the Bourgogne Wine Board (BIVB) earlier in 2024.

Hail, frost and mildew pose particular hazards. Climate change research has found extreme weather is becoming more common globally, while a France-based study suggested warmer winters can mean earlier growing seasons – potentially leaving more vine buds exposed to spring frost.

Buying the wines

Larger crops may improve collectors’ chances of securing certain wines, yet the most sought-after bottlings are often tightly allocated.

‘Sourcing top white Burgundy can be a challenge due to the quantities produced,’ said Curtis. ‘If you see something attractive, it’s important to jump in and commit.’

Will Hargrove, head of fine wine at UK merchant Corney & Barrow, the UK agent for Domaine Leflaive and DRC, said the merchant tries to walk a fine line: ‘It’s this age-old balance between supporting people who have supported us, and also embracing new customers.

‘We do tend to try and use the bigger vintages to welcome new people in. That’s something we want to do.’

He said Corney & Barrow planned to offer Domaine Leflaive 2023 wines en primeur from early December 2024.

Key dates

November: The annual Hospices de Beaune auction is a major event in the calendar.

January: The traditional en primeur (futures) release period for many Burgundy wines. The relatively large 2023 vintage is next up. Timings vary, though, and some wines are released later.

Decanter’s Chablis 2023 Report: Published in December 2024

Decanter’s Burgundy 2023 Report: Published in January 2025

Debate over release prices

Rising release prices in recent years partly reflect higher costs for wineries, but have also caused debate, as noted by Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, in its Burgundy 2022 en primeur report earlier in 2024.

It said consumers still pounced on the highly regarded 2022-vintage wines, and most producers kept price rises to a minimum, but it also warned that challenging market conditions mean ‘the gap is widening between [producers’] release prices and what buyers are willing to pay’.

Hunting for value

Value is relative, of course. Liv-ex’s Burgundy 2022 report said Chablis has the lowest average prices in the grand cru tier.

More generally, strategies range from shopping further down a well-regarded producer’s range, looking to less- prominent areas – where some top producers also operate – and unearthing under-the-radar winemaking talent.

Mercurey in the Côte Chalonnaise or the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune / Nuits are geographic areas to consider. Corney & Barrow’s Hargrove cited single-vineyard wines from the Mâconnais to the south.

‘Those are certainly things I would push people towards,’ he advised.

In 2020, 22 ‘climats’ in the Mâconnais’ appellation of Pouilly-Fuissé gained premier cru status.

Buying wines on the secondary market

Good purchasing methods include merchants’ broking services, as well as digital trading platforms, such as Bordeaux Index’s LiveTrade or Berry Bros & Rudd BBC, and major auction houses, including Sotheby’s, Christie’s, Bonhams, Zachys or iDealwine.

‘When buying wine on the secondary market, it is best to ask for photographs to check the colour (which should be commensurate with age),’ said Curtis, who is also founder of consultancy group WineAlpha and former head of wine for Christie’s in the Americas and Asia.

‘I avoid anything with signs of seepage, and whenever possible I purchase full cases in their original packaging (carton or wooden case).’

It’s important to check a wine’s ownership history, provenance and condition as much as possible before purchase. This can affect a wine’s cellaring potential or future value.

Reputable merchants and auction houses authenticate wines, but collectors should also be watchful for counterfeits. If the price looks too good to be true, then it probably is.

The premox issue

White Burgundy wines have had widely publicised challenges with premature oxidation (premox). This appeared particularly prevalent between 1995 and 2005, as Curtis wrote in Decanter magazine’s October 2024 issue.

‘Whites from Burgundy darkened and traded their fruit for caramel aromas far too early,’ he wrote. ‘From the mid-1990s, the scourge was frequent, if sporadic.’

The extent and causes of the issue have been much debated, but incidences of premox have since been greatly reduced, according to Curtis and several merchants.

‘Most of the top estates and the conscientious producers have reduced or eliminated this issue through a variety of methods, and in general I am much more sanguine about this now than I was 10 or even five years ago,’ Curtis said via email.

Still, it is something for collectors to be aware of, especially if looking to buy wines from those affected older vintages.

Trading focused on blue-chip producers

Expanding global demand for finite supplies of top Burgundy wines has been a key fine wine market narrative in the early 21st century.

Opinions differ on the size of the secondary market. Matthew O’Connell, CEO of the LiveTrade online trading platform at international merchant Bordeaux Index said a relatively small group of blue-chip Burgundy producers have a global following, but that liquidity falls away below this level.

He said there were some 10 white Burgundy producers in this top-tier category, compared to about 20 for red Burgundy.

White Burgundy’s secondary market performance

Several data sources suggest prices on some of the most prominent white Burgundy wines are significantly higher than five years ago.

The table below shows examples based on Wine-Searcher worldwide average retail prices, ex-tax.

Fine wine market hits choppy waters

Despite a wider rising trend, the average prices of Coche-Dury, DRC and Raveneau have dipped on Wine- Searcher versus October 2022.

There have been reports of subdued fine wine trading in general, with buyers appearing more cautious in a climate of higher interest rates and challenging macroeconomic conditions.

While the secondary market has a track record of long-term growth, prices have recently fallen back following a period of strong gains on some wines – especially on blue-chip Burgundy and Champagne.

Liv-ex’s Burgundy 150 index fell more steeply than its parent index, the Liv-ex 1000, over the two years to 30 September.

It has still risen further on a five-year basis, though.

White Burgundy outperforming red

White wines in the Burgundy 150 index have outperformed reds since the start of 2022, according to Liv-ex.

After gains for both, from October 2022 to 31 August 2024, the Burgundy 150’s white index dropped around 13%, while reds dropped nearly 30%.

Online auction house iDealwine remarked on a similar trend. It said: ‘For over a decade now, scarcity and strong demand has protected fine Burgundy from market fluctuations.

‘In the post-Covid price softening that we have witnessed at auction, we can see that this time, white Burgundy has been largely immune where red has not (prices fell 35% last year for red, 15% for white).’

O’Connell added: ‘When the Burgundy market went up in 2018 and 2019, white Burgundy didn’t follow so much.

‘In the 2021 and 2022 market increase, some white Burgundy names massively outperformed everything.’

Auction demand for white Burgundy

Charles Antin, global head of wine auctions at Zachys, said there is strong buyer demand for older vintages in the right circumstances.

‘I think while people shy away from some vintages of white Burgundy due to the infamous premox, these are still considered the greatest white wines in the world and, if there is confidence from the buying base about the condition of what is in the bottle, the bidding will be aggressive.’

Domaine d’Auvernay leads the way

‘[Domaine] d’Auvenay is still far and away the most expensive white Burgundy we sell,’ said Antin. ‘Of the top 10 white Burgundy lots sold in 2024 [so far], eight are d’Auvenay.’

iDealwine said d’Auvenay constituted its top three white Burgundy lots of 2024 so far, based on hammer selling price:

• Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru 2005 (1x75cl) | €16,902

• Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru 1999 (1x75cl) | €10,266

• Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru 1999 (1x75cl) | €10,141

It was a similar story at Sotheby’s’ ‘Live in the Vines’ auction in Beaune in July 2024, featuring wines from collector Pierre Chen. Highlights included:

• Six bottles of d’Auvenay, Chevalier- Montrachet Grand Cru 2009 | sold for €106,250, including buyer’s premium |

(estimate: €85,000 – €130,000)

• Three bottles of d’Auvenay, Bâtard- Montrachet Grand Cru 2014 | sold for €50,000 (e: €40,000 – €60,000)

• Three bottles of DRC, Montrachet Grand Cru 2007 | sold for €47,500 (e: €19,000 – €24,000)

George Lacey, head of wine for Sotheby’s Asia, told Decanter shortly after the sale: ‘When you offer older vintages, in good condition, with exceptional provenance which are rare and not so frequently seen in the market, there’s clearly still great demand. That was really encouraging for us to see.’

Investment: Weigh up the costs

Professional storage with temperature and humidity control can affect a wine’s future value or cellaring potential. There may also be fees associated with selling wines.

Check up-to-date prices, provenance and condition carefully and, if you’re interested in the investment side, seek professional advice.

Ups and downs

Changes to Liv-ex Market Price on white wines in the Burgundy 150 index. Two-year data is updated weekly and runs to 04/10/2024, but five-year data is updated monthly and runs to 30/09/24.

Wine investment: Six things to consider

1. Some of the most prominent fine wines on the secondary market have a track record of increasing in value over time, particularly as available supplies diminish, but nothing is guaranteed. The pool of investment-grade wines is also relatively small.

2. Professional storage in bond is considered important. A wine’s condition and provenance can affect value.

3. Wine investment is unregulated. Only buy wine from reputable sources, and check provenance and condition as carefully as possible before buying.

4. Factor in costs, such as for storage, and possible selling fees. Storage is often charged at a fixed annual rate.

5. Some auction houses have previously told Decanter that full cases tend to be more in-demand, although limited-production wines may be released or allocated in smaller quantities – such as three-bottle cases.

6. If unsure, always seek professional advice.

Report by Chris Mercer for Decanter Premium. A freelance journalist and former editor of Decanter.com, Chris has written about the global fine wine market for more than a decade

Click here to join Decanter Premium now and enjoy instant access to the latest Bordeaux 2020 En Primeur Collector’s guide, as well as past Collector’s Guide’s including, Left Bank Bordeaux, Napa and Piedmont and Rhône.

Disclaimer

Please note that this report has been published purely for informational purposes and does not constitute financial or investment advice. The report includes Wine-Searcher monthly global average retail prices in US$ to provide a consistent point of comparison, as well as data and opinion from other trade sources. All of this information is subject to change, and the prices and availability of wines cited will vary between countries, currencies and retailers. Decanter and the editorial team behind this report do not accept liability for the ongoing accuracy of its contents. Seek independent and professional advice where necessary and be aware that wine investment is unregulated in several markets. Please be aware that prices can go down as well as up.

A downloadable PDF version of the White Burgundy Collector’s Guide is available here

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• Collector’s Guide: Right Bank Bordeaux
• Collector’s Guide: Left Bank Bordeaux
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Opus One rounds up autumn campaign

Opus One and Masseto were among the famous names launching their new vintages via La Place de Bordeaux in September.

Opus One 2021 was released at €250 a bottle on an ex-Bordeaux négociant basis and offered by international merchants at £3,000 (12x75cl in bond), said Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade. No Opus One 2020 was released, due to wildfires affecting that year’s harvest.

Masseto 2021 was released at €465 per bottle ex-négociant, flat on the 2020-vintage release price, said Liv-ex.

Consultancy group Wine Lister commented: ‘Coming onto the market below [the price of] all recent vintages, this is a well-judged release from Opus One in tricky market conditions.’

Matthew O’Connell, CEO of the LiveTrade online trading platform at international merchant Bordeaux Index, said: ‘Opus One has a pretty clear demand pool that’s consistent. Masseto [2021] has a 100-point score and I think was well-received in that context.’

Thomas Parker MW, buyer at merchant Farr Vintners, said: ‘Masseto will work on allocation as it has a following and the volumes are small.’

Fellow Super Tuscan Solaia 2021 was also released with high ratings. Liv-ex said a recommended of £3,240 (12x75cl in bond) made it one of the most expensive recent vintages of the wine.

There was general caution among some merchants regarding the wider September releases campaign. The wine market remained sedate, and the Liv-ex 100 index – one barometer of prices – lost 9.5% in value in 12 months to 31 August.

Naples Winter Wine Festival 2025: Programme announced

A star-studded roster of wineries will participate in the 25th anniversary edition of the Naples Winter Wine Festival (NWWF) in Florida in January 2025, organisers have revealed.

The annual charity event’s ‘honoured vintners’ for 2025 will be Count Louis-Michel and Countess Constance Liger-Belair, owners of Burgundy’s Domaine du Comte Liger- Belair, said the Naples Children & Education Foundation.

Other participating wineries include Bordeaux’s Petrus and Château Léoville Las Cases, Italy’s Antinori and Gaja, Spain’s Dominio de Pingus, California’s Colgin and Oregon’s Domaine Serene – to name but a few.

NWWF 2025, running over the weekend 24-26 January, will include winemaker dinners across Naples, plus tastings and cuisine by award-winning chefs, as well as the traditional live auction featuring luxury lots and experiences. Ticket packages start at $17,500 per couple. Click here for more information.

Top Champagnes in demand

Prestige Champagne’s long-term price growth has continued to outweigh recent declines, although the current market picture is mixed.

Top Champagne cuvées benefited particularly strongly from a fine wine market boom between 2020 and 2022. Secondary market prices have since retreated, with Champagne faring worse than several other regions.

However, top-tier Champagne prices were still up 41% over five years, as shown by data from the LiveTrade online trading platform at international merchant Bordeaux Index (see table, below).

It’s a similar picture at Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade. Its Champagne 50 index fell 23% over two years to 31 August, but was up 39.5% over five years.

Matthew O’Connell, CEO of Bordeaux Index’s LiveTrade, said prestige Champagne had further price growth potential on the secondary market due to its still-expanding global audience and ‘sky high’ quality.

‘I believe there’s an opportunity, in that prices won’t remain low like this in perpetuity,’ he said. He also highlighted 2004 and 2006 as middle-aged vintages that have perhaps been under-appreciated. ‘Those wines will not be at those prices for that long. And they’re excellent.’

LiveTrade data showed 2004-vintage Dom Pérignon, Bollinger Grande Année, Philipponnat Clos des Goisses and Taittinger Comtes de Champagne have risen strongly in price post-release, but were still cheaper than the same wines from the highly rated class of 2002.

Justin Gibbs, co-founder and exchange director at Liv-ex, said the overall wine market remained subdued. Some recently launched vintage Champagnes have lost value post-release, but older vintages – from 2008 and back – were beginning to look more solid.

Gibbs said Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 2006 was around £1,200 on Liv-ex (12x75cl in bond), and has been flat for 12 months. ‘People have [said], “at that price, I’m acquiring it”.’

The wine was about £800 in early 2020 and hit £1,900 in 2022, before dropping back. Some merchants reported ongoing strong demand for top-end Champagnes.

Shaun Bishop, CEO of California-based JJ Buckley, said: ‘While prices of prestige Champagne have fallen over the past year, we’ve never seen more demand, which is currently at an all-time high.’

The Bordeaux Index view

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com.

Champagne is perhaps the most interesting embodiment of the fine market pattern across the last three years. Broad perceptions are that the region is struggling price-wise, yet it is at the same time very difficult to find a Champagne that is cheaper than its 2021 price – and therefore the vast majority of collectors and investors own wines which are worth more than they paid for them – a clearly positive fact that will strengthen the region over the coming years.

There are two noteworthy current dynamics. Firstly, we have seen a number of release prices which are above the price of current (equal or better quality) vintages on the market – something which is never a good underpinning for demand and future price growth.

Secondly, there has been a surprising flattening of the price curve such that semi-mature vintages (2002/2004/2006) are looking particularly good value, especially when one considers their greater rarity on the market.

Given our expectation that the lower price levels of the last 12-18 months will not persist for too long, it is clearly a good time for buyers to own these vintages in particular.

Disclaimer: Decanter’s Marketwatch pages are published for informational purposes only and do not constitute investment advice. Wine prices may vary and they can go down as well as up. Seek independent advice where necessary and be aware that wine investment is unregulated in several markets, including the UK.

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September has become a key month for Bordeaux négociants to distribute new vintages of international fine wines to certain markets, potentially providing more evidence of buyer sentiment.

While there has been debate within parts of the trade about the suitability of the model for all wines, La Place de Bordeaux’s September campaign now represents top-quality labels from around the world and the concept offers a potential opportunity for producers to reach a broader collector base.

Key wines include the 2021 vintages of Super Tuscans Masseto and Solaia. International merchant Bordeaux Index highlighted strong critical ratings on both wines, but said much would depend on price.

Among other upcoming La Place de Bordeaux releases to track, Bordeaux Index has highlighted the 2021 vintages of several Napa Valley wines: Opus One, Inglenook Rubicon, Dalle Valle Maya and Beaulieu Georges de Latour.

Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, said in August that a subdued market may present particular challenges for wine labels new to La Place, adding: ‘It is a tough time to be trying to build a brand.’

Long-established names on La Place, such as Masseto, must also navigate the current tricky market environment, though, Liv-ex pointed out.

It said Masseto 2020 was ‘seemingly fair value [when it was released in September 2023] with its high ratings, [but] has traded consistently below market price over the past year’.

Madrid hosts charity wine event Golden Vines 2024

Masterclasses with famous wineries, a special charity auction and luxurious dinners will form part of The Golden Vines 2024 event, organisers have announced.

To be held in Madrid from 25 to 27 October, the event follows editions in Paris, London and Florence, said organiser Liquid Icons.

Created in 2021 to celebrate wine and spirits excellence, it also honours late, great sommelier Gérard Basset OBE MW MS.

Alongside masterclasses and lunches with star names, such as Château d’Yquem, Vega Sicilia, Krug and Dom Pérignon, there will be The Golden Vines Awards Gala dinner.

A Sotheby’s-hosted auction of ‘money-can’t-buy oenology experiences’ will raise funds for the Gérard Basset Foundation, which focuses on mentoring, education and training in the fine wine and spirits world.

Weekend event tickets cost £10,000 per person, and include a VIP concierge service.

Market MOT

Recent price data on semi-mature vintages, combined with the prospect of falling interest rates, have offered some positive signals for the fine wine market going into September – but it’s early days.

There have been some indications of a possible ‘turnaround’ for the prices of more mature vintages, observed Matthew O’Connell, CEO of the LiveTrade online trading platform at international merchant Bordeaux Index.

‘Krug 2006 and Latour 2000 are good examples of the trends of semi-mature Champagne and Bordeaux, respectively,’ he said. Prices for these wines have stabilised in recent months, following declines to different degrees, as data from LiveTrade shows (see chart, below).

However, Krug 2006 has outperformed Latour 2000 over three years, largely reflecting sharp price increases for certain prestige Champagne brands in 2021 and 2022.

Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, stated in its August report that buyers are searching for ‘safe havens’, which include more mature vintages.

Its Bordeaux Legends 40 index, which tracks certain top wines from the 1989 vintage onwards, crept up in value by 0.2% in July, having also risen slightly in June.

Still, the group’s benchmark Liv-ex 100 index dropped 1.1% in July and was down 9.7% over 12 months. Interest rates may be a significant factor to watch.

The Bank of England lowered its key rate by 0.25% on 1 August, to 5%, although said it would proceed cautiously on further cuts.

In the US, speculation was building over a possible Federal Reserve interest rate cut in September.

Bordeaux Index and Liv-ex have both cited rate cuts as potentially helpful for inspiring greater spending on fine wine.

Will Hargrove, head of fine wine at merchant Corney & Barrow, described the Bank of England’s rate cut as ‘a step in the right direction’, although he said the wine market remained quite sedate.

Hargrove said that he felt there’s still interest in fine wine, but that buyers’ caution reflects their uncertainty about whether prices could fall further.

He likened market sentiment to ‘a mass sitting on of hands’. Yet, he said it’s ‘definitely a buyer’s market’, and highlighted attractive prices on ‘mid-aged’ Bordeaux and Burgundy.

The Bordeaux Index view

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com.

The softening of the wine market across 2023-2024, reversing some (but not all) of the sharp gains from 2021-2022, is well documented.

The main factor driving this movement is a brake on discretionary spending, which was triggered by a sudden surge in interest rates as inflation rose out of control.

For the most part this has led to fewer buyers and lower buying quantities, rather than a large number of sellers.

As we – potentially – look towards a gradual or indeed perhaps faster decline in interest rates, it would be surprising if this does not reverse the current trend.

Wine prices are anyway strained at their current levels in a historical context, with the largest declines in cross-regional prices previously in the -10% context vs more like -15% now.

We have started to observe early positive signs of a turnaround in pricing in more mature vintages – indeed it is usually the pattern for price growth, as there is more of a prompt for buyers to act with lower supply on the market.

It will be interesting to observe across the coming months whether a change in interest rate expectations will catalyse a recovery of more significance.

Krug 2006 and Latour 2000 are good examples of the market trends for semi-mature Bordeaux and Champagne, respectively.

Disclaimer: Decanter’s Marketwatch pages are published for informational purposes only and do not constitute investment advice. Wine prices may vary and they can go down as well as up. Seek independent advice where necessary and be aware that wine investment is unregulated in several markets, including the UK.

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Dom Pérignon 2015 has been one of the latest major releases on a fine wine market that has largely continued to see prices under pressure. Dom Pérignon has been a major star of Champagne’s greater presence on the secondary market in recent years, and the new launch follows the release of the 2013 vintage in early 2023.

UK merchants offered Dom Pérignon 2015 for between £848 and £875 per six-bottle case in bond (ib). That’s below the release price of Dom Pérignon 2013, according to Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, but it also said the 2013 vintage had fallen about 15% in price in the past 12 months.

On Bordeaux Index’s LiveTrade online trading platform, Dom Pérignon 2012 and 2013 were offered below £800 per six-bottle case. Liv-ex data suggested secondary market prices in general remained under pressure. The headline Liv-ex 1000 index fell 6.3% in value in six months to 30 June, and its Champagne 50 sub-index dropped 6.6%.

‘It’s a sign of the times that Dom Pérignon doesn’t sell out immediately,’ said Alex Turnbull, head of private and online sales at UK-based merchant Jeroboams. ‘We have seen stable demand [for the 2015 vintage], but go back three years and Dom Pérignon sold out within the hour.’

Turnbull also said that Dom Pérignon owner LVMH (Moët Hennessy) has ‘steadily increased the release price over the years, and so it doesn’t offer the same value on release that it used to’.

Vintage Ports command record prices at auction

Legendary vintage Ports from a UK private collection have generated strong buyer interest at a Christie’s auction in London.

Christie’s recently reported new auction price records (measured in terms of price per single bottle) for several vintage Ports in the sale. These included high-quality bottlings such as Dow’s 1924, of which a two-bottle lot sold for £6,875 including buyer’s premium (high estimate: £1,200), and Fonseca 1934. Two six-bottle lots of the Fonseca 1934 each fetched £9,375 (high estimate: £4,500 per lot).

The Ports were from Raby castle cellars in County Durham, near Darlington. ‘The exceptional cellar conditions, cool and damp, have ensured that all vintage Port bottles in this collection are in perfect condition,’ said Edwin Vos, senior director and international head of Christie’s wine and spirits department, and Noah May, Christie’s head of wine and spirits for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

Provenance pulls in the bids

Auction house Sotheby’s has recently reported strong bidding on certain blue-chip Burgundy wines, but the wider market picture for the region remains mixed.

Sotheby’s said more than a third of lots sold in its Burgundy-focused ‘Live in the Vines’ auction in Beaune, in the heart of the Côte d’Or, on 2 July achieved prices comfortably above pre-sale high estimates.

Asia-based bidders were particularly prominent in the sale, which was part of the Epicurean’s Atlas series of auctions featuring wines from noted collector Pierre Chen. Sotheby’s also reported new record auction prices on certain wines (see wines, below).

For example, it said a three-bottle lot of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC), Montrachet 2007 sold for the equivalent of more than €15,800 per bottle, including buyer’s premium – about 50% above the previous record bottle price.

George Lacey, Sotheby’s head of wine Asia, told Decanter: ‘When you offer older vintages in good condition with exceptional provenance – which are rare and not so frequently seen in the market – there’s clearly still great demand. That was really encouraging for us to see. People were really competing for those wines.’

Nick Pegna, Sotheby’s global head of wines & spirits, cautioned that the group’s focus on older wines that are ready to drink means that its results are not necessarily representative of the market in its entirety.

Lacey added: ‘People are willing to spend money on great wines. But, they are perhaps looking to replenish cellars or to buy wines that they can get immediate enjoyment from.’ In general terms, Lacey said Burgundy prices were ‘no longer sliding’, but were down versus their peak two years ago.

UK-based merchant Bordeaux Index said top-tier Burgundy prices were down by about 10% in the first half of 2024, albeit the price drift has slowed in recent months. It added that prices were still around 150% higher than a decade ago, on average.

Bordeaux Index pointed out that trading has improved this year on ‘bellwether’ producers DRC and Armand Rousseau, too. Burgundy wines now feature on the group’s recently relaunched LiveTrade online trading platform.

Data released by Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, showed that its index for DRC wines rose slightly in value earlier this year, before dipping again in June.

Sotheby’s Live in the Vines: six blue-chip Burgundy highlights

Six examples of Burgundy lots in the Sotheby’s Live in the Vines sale on 2 July that saw a record auction price for that specific wine (records were measured in terms of price per 75cl, except for Lot 130, which is a record price per magnum of this wine):

LOT 200 Domaine Armand Rousseau, Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru 1990 12x75cl. Sold for €100,000 – Estimate: €40,000-€60,000

LOT 202 Domaine Armand Rousseau, Chambertin Grand Cru 2009 12x75cl. Sold for €68,750 – Estimate: €40,000-€55,000

LOT 4 Domaine Leroy, Chambertin Grand Cru 2011 3x75cl. Sold for €50,000 – Estimate: €26,000-€38,000

LOT 140 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Montrachet Grand Cru 2007 3x75cl. Sold for €47,500 – Estimate: €19,000-€24,000

LOT 130 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, La Tâche Grand Cru 2005 1x150cl. Sold for €35,000 | Estimate: €16,000-€20,000

LOT 1 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Echezeaux Grand Cru 2005 3x75cl. Sold for €30,000 – Estimate: €6,500-€9,500

Data Source: Sotheby’s. ‘Sold for’ prices include buyer’s premium.

The Bordeaux Index view

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com.

The net performance of top wines from Burgundy since 2021 remains very positive, with gains of 60% or more across 2022, especially, now having settled into more of a context of above-40% after the market having softened across H2 2023 and in 2024.

This can be summarised succinctly as a very skewed supply-demand imbalance being replaced by a much more balanced position – naturally this has seen the highest degree of correction among those blue-chip names which had particularly outperformed, but the picture overall is that most owners of top Burgundy have seen substantial gains in value in their collection.

At Bordeaux Index we have seen prices largely stabilise (albeit some auction performance is notably lacklustre) and we expect price growth to resume over the medium term; but the timing for this is unclear, given the discretionary nature of buying demand.

Our observations relate very much to blue-chip Burgundy, though – the top 20-25 names – as we see the segment(s) below, high-quality wines though they are, as being overpriced and without a firm buyer base for consumption of the wines.

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Spain’s consistent delivery of high-quality wines is changing perceptions in the fine wine investment arena. With growing acclaim and success in competitions, not least the Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA), the nation’s hidden gems are proving to have significant potential for appreciation.

Spain’s impressive DWWA 2024 results highlight exceptional quality and diversity in the awards’ highest price band (wines above £100 per bottle). Regions such as Rioja and Ribera del Duero, known for their robust reds, showcased their prowess with wines that balance power and elegance, making them worthy contenders for wine investment, managing to combine both immediate appeal and remarkable ageability.

Scroll down to discover 15 Spanish wines to enjoy and cellar

The structured tannins and balanced acidity in Spanish reds, particularly from Tempranillo and Garnacha, allow these wines to develop complex flavours over time, making them valuable assets in a wine collection. Then there are singular styles such as vintage sparkling wines (Cava, Corpinnat and more), elegantly aged white wines and standout fortifieds.

The ability of these wines to evolve beautifully in the bottle ensures that they remain appealing and can accrue value over the years.

On judging fine wines at DWWA, Co-Chair Michael Hill Smith AM MW said, ‘If you’re spending £15 on a wine, no one’s going to be hurt. Whereas if you go out and spend £150 on a bottle and it’s disappointing, you’ve got a greater reason to feel let down. As is always the case, Decanter leads the way in trying to give guidance to serious wine people about serious wines.’

Below find 15 seriously outstanding wines from the 2024 competition, with more to seek out at awards.decanter.com

Best in Show

Alta Alella, Mirgin Exeo Evolució Cava Gran Reserva Brut Nature 2004

97 Best in Show

altaalella.wine

Fresh and lifted nose with the wild grass and saffron notes of Xarel·lo (or Pansa Blanca) mingling with Chardonnay’s creamier orchard fruits. Long and fine-foamed, structure backing a fine-honed blade of flavour to great effect. Two decades of age has brought great harmony, yet it retains freshness. Alcohol 12%

Valduero, Reserva Blanco, Ribera del Duero 2016

97 Best in Show

£140 The Wine Treasury

No shortage of personality in this Albillo Mayor white. Aromatic exuberance of vanilla fudge, turmeric and Indian balsam. Broad and fleshy, with rich flavours of spiced vanilla and assorted dairy treats, leaving a sense of lurking mushroom and truffle. Lots to enjoy: little reason to wait. Alc 12.5%

Bodegas Frontaura, Aponte Plus Tempranillo, Toro 2018

97 Best in Show

bodegasnexusfrontaura.com

All but black in colour, sturdy aromas packed with black fruit, embers, pounded stone and sweet spices. Densely textured, ample tannins, wild plum fruits and some sloe-like acidity adding a wild-forest feel. Some might prefer to give it a few more calming years, others will love its youthful force. Alc 14.5%

Sparkling

The Sea Wine Club, CV 01 Cava Brut Reserva NV

95 Gold

theseawineclub.com

Exhilarating apple charlotte, key lime pie and juicy pear aromas with an enriching biscuit and toast depth. Zesty and verdant with wet-stone acidity and well-defined bubbles. Alc 11%

Red

Alilian, Camino del Abuelo, Ribera del Duero 2014

97 Platinum

bodegasalilian.com

Remarkable for its age, displaying Mediterranean dried herbs atop a plum-berry core. Concentrated and generous with luxuriant, velvet tannins, finely grained supportive oak and a verdant acidity that embraces the palate and endures. A masterpiece. Alc 14%

Clos d’Agon, Selección Especial, Catalonia 2021

97 Platinum

closdagon.com

Svelte blackcurrant and blueberry fruit cradled in a savoury black pepper and herbal fragrance, with shapely, velvet tannins and classy cedar oak nicely tucked in. Ambitious, generous and muscular, expressing its origins with true class. Alc 14%

Condado de Haza, Alenza Gran Reserva, Ribera del Duero 2018

97 Platinum

£91.50-£103.50 JN Wine, The Good Spirits Co

Wave upon wave of dried herbs, tobacco and redcurrant and blueberry fruit provide interest and intrigue. Decadent and inviting, this has a succulent leathery texture, a searing tang of acidity and superb belt of velvety tannins. Alc 14.5%

Perinet, Vinya Pendents Carinyena, Priorat 2018

97 Platinum

£120 Waud Wines

Utterly superb and stylish, laden with indulgent ripe fruit and spine-tingling smoky notes that lap gently against the delicate texture and lustrous tannins and infuse the enriching swirl of acidity, evoking its origins perfectly. Long and abiding. Alc 16%

Ramón Bilbao, Lalomba Finca Ladero, Rioja 2018

97 Platinum

bodegasramonbilbao.com

Supremely elegant and characterful, brimming with cranberry, strawberry and pomegranate fruit shrouded in a café crème oak complexity. Multi- layered, long and textural with satin tannins, mouthwatering acidity and charming graphite minerals. Alc 14.5%

The Sea Wine Club, W 01 Crianza, Ribera del Duero 2016

96 Gold

theseawineclub.com

Packed with bright red cherries, sweet spice and smoky oak flavours which linger and swirl over the smooth structure and silky tannins. A wine to keep. Alc 14%

Perelada, Finca Garbet, Empordà 2019

95 Gold

£185 Alliance Wine

Delightful blackberry, plum and garrigue herbs slide over the shapely tannins and voluptuous texture with a mellow swirl of chocolate and coconut oak flowing to the end. Alc 14.5%

Sweet

Perinet, Ranci, Catalonia

95 Gold

perinetwinery.com

Bewitching layers of chocolate, coffee, dried fig and tobacco persist over the deeply concentrated, sumptuous palate and structural acidity with an abiding roasted walnut finale. Alc 17%

Fortified

Costers del Priorat, Memòries Cal Marcelino, Priorat

97 Platinum

costersdelpriorat.com

A wonderful complexity of salted almonds, caramelised orange peel and sweet nutmeg melt into the unctuous, warming texture and contrast superbly with the pulsating bead of acidity that tempers and compensates. So much to offer. Alc 22%

Bodegas Tradición, VORS 30 Year Old Palo Cortado, Jerez

96 Gold

£120.79-£133 Hedonism, Justerini & Brooks

US$108-$136 Grand Wine Cellar, Independent Spirits, Saratoga Wine Exchange, The Cellar d’Or

Scorched sand and burnt sugar washed by sea salt and linden leaves: this wine has extremes yet they are pulled together in a silky, unctuous shell. Wine for meditation. Alc 21%

Valdespino, Solera de su Majestad VORS 30 Year Old Oloroso, Jerez

95 Gold

£139/37.5cl Brunswick Fine Wines, Liberty Wines

US$100-$155/37.5cl AOC Selections, Benchmark, The Rare Wine Co, Vinopolis

Piquant savoury and cinder smoke characters ripple alongside the impressive saline core; lithe yet grippy, dry yet softened by time. A truly humbling, memorable experience. Alc 22%

Search all DWWA 2024 award-winning wines

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Rare Bordeaux, Burgundy and California wines have featured in a Christie’s auction of ‘last treasures’ from the Avery family’s private cellar.

All lots offered in the London-based auction found buyers, said Christie’s, with total sales reaching £2.57m, including buyer’s premium. Bottles in the collection were acquired by different generations of the family that is behind historic Bristol-based wine merchant Averys, and the auction was a follow-up to a similar sale held in 2016.

Top lots this time around included Burgundy wines from the 1940s. Two bottles of Clos de Tart, Grand Cru 1945 sold for £43,750, including buyer’s premium, against a pre-sale high estimate of just £3,000, Christie’s said. One magnum (1.5 litre) of Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé, Cuvée Vieilles Vignes Musigny Grand Cru 1947 sold for £23,750 (high estimate: £8,000).

From Bordeaux, a magnum of the legendary Château Latour 1961 sold for £25,000 (high e: £6,000), and a 12-bottle lot of Petrus 1990 in its original wooden case sold for £37,500 (high e: £30,000).

Rare bottles of decades-old Napa Valley Cabernet also went under the hammer. Two six-bottle lots of Heitz Cellar, Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 1974 each sold for £22,500 (high e per lot: £10,000, pictured left). Six bottles of Joseph Phelps, Insignia 1975 fetched £5,250 (high e: £4,800), and three bottles of Inglenook, Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon 1955 sold for £4,000 (high e: £3,000).

Sotheby’s Super Tuscan sale puts spotlight on Ornellaia

Limited-edition Ornellaia 2021 wines have been auctioned by Sotheby’s in the latest instalment in the Super Tuscan winery’s Vendemmia d’Artista limited-edition label program.

Italian artist Marinella Senatore designed labels inspired by the theme ‘La Generosità’ for Ornellaia 2021 (Decanter 97pts), from a highly rated vintage in Bolgheri on the Tuscan coast.

A nine-litre salmanazar bottle of the wine sold for £16,250 via Sotheby’s, including buyer’s premium (pre-sale estimate: £15,000- £40,000). The lot also included an overnight stay and dinner at the Ornellaia estate. Also, a one-off ‘vertical’ case featuring Ornellaia wines from the 10 Vendemmia d’Artista vintages 2012 to 2021 inclusive sold for £6,875 (high e: £2,600).

The 12-bottle case included two extra bottles of Ornellaia 2012 and 2021 with ‘classic’ labels. Proceeds from the sale will benefit the Mind’s Eye sensory programme of The Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation.

Reflections on Bordeaux 2023

Lower prices for Bordeaux 2023 en primeur wines haven’t automatically translated into stellar sales, despite some success stories, early analysis has suggested.

Amid a challenging fine wine market, ‘ex-négociant’ release prices (€ per bottle) on many Bordeaux 2023 wines fell more than 20% versus the 2022 vintage en primeur campaign last year (see graphic below), and some dropped more than 30%, said Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade.

Several top wines were available in the UK at significantly below 2022 vintage release prices, and were also cheaper than current prices for the highly regarded 2019 and 2020 vintages, showed data from Bordeaux Index’s LiveTrade online trading platform (see chart below).

This aided consumer demand. Thomas Parker MW, buyer at Farr Vintners, said of Mouton Rothschild 2023 (Decanter 98-100pts): ‘We have had interest as it is a lower price than any other vintage on the market.’

There were mixed reports about overall en primeur sales, however. Consultancy group Wine Lister said in early June: ‘Feedback from the trade indicates a lacklustre reception [to the campaign], with consumers less willing to spend money apart from on a cherished brand or a very good deal.’

Other opportunities

Still, it reported ‘decent sales’ for several wines released ‘significantly below current market prices for back-vintages, including the all-important 2019’.

LiveTrade CEO Matthew O’Connell said: ‘Most wines haven’t required allocation and have been quite readily available to buy.’

Although prices dropped back to ‘more sensible’ levels, he said that at least one other strongly rated, recent vintage was often available in a ‘similar [price] zone’.

Secondary market prices for Bordeaux wines have been falling. Liv-ex’s Bordeaux 500 sub-index dropped 13.4% in value in 12 months to 31 May.

Liv-ex highlighted that Bordeaux’s 2011 vintage was released en primeur into a falling market, with year-on-year price discounts, and has since risen in price. Yet, it added: ‘The question remains whether the Bordeaux 2023s are priced low enough to perform similarly to the 2011s.’

Some Bordeaux wines carry with them a reputation for swift price rises, post-release. Wine Lister said Lafleur, Les Carmes Haut-Brion and Carruades de Lafite showed the biggest average returns across five vintages spanning 2018 to 2022.

The Bordeaux Index view

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com.

The Bordeaux en primeur campaign has drawn to a close, having primarily seen buying from focused collectors rather than a broader universe. Pricing for this high-quality (though perhaps not ‘benchmark’ level) 2023 vintage was substantially down on release prices for 2022 (as much as 40% in some cases).

This must be seen in the context of very high 2022 prices and also the Bordeaux market being down 15% in the intervening period (more in some younger vintages) on lower activity levels, such that overall for many releases a recent strong vintage (eg, 2018/2019/2020/2022) was cheaper and physically available.

A favourably received Bordeaux en primeur campaign (the last frenzied example of which we saw for the 2019 vintage, released in 2020) tends to be followed by a sharp uptick in market activity for other Bordeaux vintages. It will be interesting to see how things evolve on this front during the remainder of 2024, but it may be a case of missed opportunity on this front.

We continue to believe that Bordeaux is underpriced relative to other regions, but it is often the case that a catalyst is required for prices to start rising – in the current subdued market, this is particularly pertinent.

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Today, the Mosel is a region steeped in deference to its history. New generations of winemakers rarely stray from family recipes, which have helped establish some of the top Riesling houses with hundreds of years of winemaking pedigree.

Even in this special part of the wine-growing world, Ernst Loosen‘s new Zach. Bergweiler-Prüm wines show an impressive regard for an era when Riesling produced here was some of the most sought-after and highly-priced wine in the world.

Bergweiler-Prüm was Ernst Loosen’s great-grandfather on his mother’s side. He was a significant producer in the Middle Mosel, having established a renowned winery in the village of Wehlen. It was Zacharias who married into Mosel royalty in the Prüm family.

Loosen’s project utilises his great-grandfather’s original cellar to produce the wines, with a significant effort to remain true to the era in which Bergweiler-Prüm was growing and making Riesling.

Each wine comes from a different parcel of the Grosse Lage site, Wehlener Sonnenuhr. The vines are 130 years old and farmed as they would have been in those days. Loosen has also used vine training practices that were used during his great-grandfather’s era.

Only natural and historically appropriate items are used to transport the fruit to the winery, tie back vine shoots or cultivate the soils. ‘I wanted to gain experience with very low-intervention viticulture and winemaking, the way my great-grandfather did it,’ said Loosen.

The three wines are a dry Riesling Grosses Gewächs (GG), an off-dry Kabinett, and a partially botrytised Auslese. Each is made in a style of Bergweiler-Prüm’s era and can depart from the well-known styles that have come to fashion since the German Wine Law of 1971. The Auslese is made in a less sweet style than many contemporary counterparts.

In the cellar, faithfulness to the past is maintained. The wines are all pressed in a restored basket press from 1910, and they ferment spontaneously in neutral, 1,000-litre German oak Fuder casks. There is no racking nor bâtonnage while they mature on the full lees for 24 months. Extended barrel maturation was the normal practice in Bergweiler-Prüm’s era. It gave the wines time to clarify and stabilise without the use of modern technology.

After bottling, the wines are held for an additional four years prior to release.

One Fuder (or about 1,300 bottles) of each 2018 wine was made. They will be sold in mixed three-packs and exclusively through négociants on La Place.

‘These wines are a journey into our past when German Rieslings had been the world’s most prized wines,’ said Loosen. ‘They are precious to me, and I want to share them with serious wine collectors around the globe. I’m happy to be able to offer them through the La Place de Bordeaux network.’

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UK national Casey Alexander, 27, was sentenced to three years of probation by a US court in Ohio for his role in the wine investment scam, after earlier pleading guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

US district judge Solomon Oliver also ordered Alexander, from London in England, to pay $202,195.58 in restitution to victims, for his role in the scheme. 

More than 150 victims across the US collectively invested more than $13m in the wine and whisk(e)y fraud scheme, based on what FBI investigators have so far discovered, said the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio.

Citing court documents, it said Alexander and others took part in a cold-calling scheme that targeted elderly investors.

‘They used aggressive and deceptive tactics, and promised large returns if the victims participated in wine and whiskey investments,’ said the Attorney’s office. 

‘They told victims that they could buy a portfolio of fine wines and whiskeys on their behalf, and then hold the purchase in a bonded warehouse located in Europe until sold for a profit.’

Victims were convinced to wire funds to one or more suspect companies, and were also encouraged to make further investments in order to secure bigger returns, the Attorney’s office said. 

Suspicions were partly triggered by a victim’s son contacting Highland Heights Police Department to say that his parent appeared to have been defrauded out of more than $300,000 over an 18-month period.

After that complaint in 2020, the police department discovered similar complaints about a possible wine investment scam in other areas of the US, the Attorney’s office said.

It said the case was investigated and prosecuted under the Elder Justice Initiative Program, supporting efforts to combat abuse, fraud and neglect, and added that Alexander’s sentencing came during Elder Abuse Awareness Month.

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Prices on the wine secondary market have continued to look fragile, according to the May market report from Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade. Its headline Liv-ex 100 and Liv-ex 1000 indices dipped by 1.3% and 0.7% respectively in April, and were down by 15% and 15.6% over 12 months.

One highlight, though, was the Italy 100 index, which rose 0.7% in April and has also outperformed the Liv-ex 100 and 1000 indices over two years (see chart below).

Liv-ex reported price rises for several Italian wines in April, including Giacomo Conterno’s Monfortino Barolo Riserva 2010 and 2013, as well as SuperTuscans Masseto 2017, Solaia 2015 and Sassicaia 2017.

Despite ongoing price uncertainty, Nick Pegna, global head of wine and spirits at Sotheby’s, told Decanter in May that he was encouraged by recent bidding activity in the group’s Hong Kong auctions.

‘If things are priced correctly, there’s still a lot of interest out there,’ he said.

Pegna reiterated the importance of setting price estimates at a level that would tempt prospective buyers.

‘One thing that we are really clear on is that if you go in with low estimates – if you are the person who has agreed to sell to the auction house – you end up getting a better result than a high estimate, because you’re encouraging that bidding activity in the room.’

His comments came after Sotheby’s announced record wine and spirits auction sales of $159m (£126.6m) in 2023.

Buyers snap up desirable wines from Le Gavroche cellar

A Christie’s auction of wines from recently closed London restaurant Le Gavroche has fetched nearly £1.9m in sales.

All 670 wine lots from the celebrated restaurant’s cellars found buyers, said Christie’s.

A seven-bottle lot of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Richebourg Grand Cru 1993 sold for £35,000, including buyer’s premium – significantly above its pre-sale high estimate of £22,000.

Two magnums of Château Lafite Rothschild 1945 sold for £15,000, versus a high estimate of £8,000. A collection of four magnums of Krug Champagne, from the 1971 and 1975 vintages, also sold for £9,375 (high estimate £8,500).

‘The exceptionally strong result is a fitting tribute to the impeccable cellar of Le Gavroche,’ said Tim Triptree MW, Christie’s international director of wines & spirits, and Adam Bilbey, Christie’s global head of wine and spirits.

Spotlight on: Champagne

A sedate Champagne market may still yield opportunities, following price declines on prestige cuvées and evidence of rising interest in grower-producer labels.

Price declines for top prestige cuvée Champagnes appeared to have levelled off in the first half of 2024, while remaining significantly higher than six years ago (see chart), according to transaction data from Bordeaux Index’s LiveTrade online trading platform.

Its Champagne index tracked several top names, including Dom Pérignon, RoedererCristal, Krug, Salon and Taittinger Comtes de Champagne.

At Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, the Champagne 50 index still dropped by 0.9% in value in April, however. It was down 15.4% over one year, with Cristal 2008, Krug 2008 and Salon 2012 falling more than 20%.

Matthew O’Connell, CEO of Bordeaux Index’s LiveTrade, said there were potentially opportunities for buyers in Champagne back-vintages that have ‘come off quite a lot’ in price. Yet, he also added Champagne prices were ‘unlikely to rocket back up’ while trading activity remains muted.

Nick Pegna, global head of wine and spirits at Sotheby’s, said there is an expanded market for older Champagne at auction: ‘I think mature Champagne is considerably more appealing to a growing number of buyers.’

Sotheby’s will host its first Champagne-only auction in June, in Paris, as part of its Epicurean’s Atlas series of sales from the cellar of collector Pierre Chen.

Grower Champagne: a segment to watch

Pegna also highlighted rising enthusiasm for grower Champagne: ‘It’s exciting because it’s bringing a slightly different crowd into the world of Champagne.’

Auction house iDealwine recently reported strong sales increases on certain grower Champagnes in 2023, including Cédric Bouchard, Romain Hénin, Egly Ouriet, Emmanuel Brochet and Jérôme Prévost.

Its latest annual Barometer report named grower Jacques Selosse as its top-selling Champagne producer by value last year, too. Sales hit €425,778 (£366,000), well ahead of Dom Pérignon on €215,877.

Production volumes are small, though, and grower Champagnes are relatively untested on the secondary market beyond a few established names, such as Selosse or Pierre Péters. ‘We’re not yet at the stage where people have lots and lots in their collections,’ Pegna stated.

The Bordeaux Index view

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com.

Top Champagnes were the greatest beneficiary (even more than Burgundy) heading out of the pandemic, as the global re-opening plus new consumers of what is clearly a luxury product drove a step-change in demand. Gains over the five-year period to late 2022 meant prices had effectively doubled.

It is natural that following such stark price changes, there is a partial settling of prices – for Champagne in this cycle that leaves the five-year gain at around +70% overall, which means that, while down from those 2022 highs, prices are in a very different context to previously. Our expectation is that current levels are a point from which to build upwards again – market activity is currently muted and this has led to price ‘drift’: something very different to sustained selling from Champagne owners.

A significant dynamic in the Champagne market remains the very strong 2012, 2013 and 2014 vintages: these have increased market supply, while also potentially puzzling buyers who often like a ‘five-star’ vintage to focus on. At the same time, the

age/price curve has flattened such that, for example, 2002 and 2004 look particularly good value for strong, ready-to-drink vintages.

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Highly rated recent releases from Brunello di Montalcino and Chianti Classico to coastal Bolgheri and the understated Toscana IGT denominations have underlined why Tuscany is considered a treasure trove for collectors at many levels.

Top Super Tuscans have also risen to greater prominence on the secondary market, despite fine wine prices and trading in general going off the boil in the past 12 to 18 months.

This introductory fine wine market guide focuses on Tuscan red wines. It aims to give collectors information on some of the key names and developments by synthesising exclusive recent reports for Decanter Premium, as well as market data.

Tuscany 101: Key styles

Sangiovese comes in different guises, but remains Tuscany’s key grape. It’s a driving force of Chianti Classico and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, and the sole star of Brunello di Montalcino – three prestigious DOCG zones (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) in Italy’s wine classification system.

Natural tannins and acidity lend the finest Sangiovese wines great ageing potential, while a complex flavour profile can encompass wild red berries, dark cherry, earthy, herbal and liquorice notes. Yet, some of Tuscany’s top wines focus on international grapes, notably Bordeaux varieties Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc.

This is one of the defining features of many prominent Super Tuscans – albeit there are exceptions – and today these highly prized wines commonly fall within Toscana IGT and Bolgheri DOC denominations.

New director at Ornellaia

Ornellaia and Masseto have named Marco Balsimelli as their new production director. His appointment follows the exit of Axel Heinz to Château Lascombes last year. ‘I will vinify around 10% of the blend [of Ornellaia] in amphorae for more fruit, minerality, movement of lees and freshness,’ Balsimelli told James Button, Decanter’s regional editor for Italy.

Most popular Tuscan wines on Wine-Searcher

As a broad introduction to market prominence, here are the 15 most searched-for Tuscan wines on Wine-Searcher.com. (See table 1, below)

Super Tuscan snapshot

The first five names in this ranking are commonly cited as the most prominent (Super) Tuscan wines on the secondary market.

Sassicaia began as a Vino da Tavola in 1968 (it’s now Bolgheri Sassicaia DOC), and was followed by Tignanello and Solaia, and subsequently Ornellaia and Masseto. All use Bordeaux grapes in different proportions. Tignanello is the only one of these five with a Sangiovese-dominant blend.

Both it and Cabernet Sauvignon-led Solaia come from the same Antinori- owned estate in Chianti Classico territory. Ornellaia and Masseto are today owned by the Frescobaldi family.

More names to know

Prominent wines sitting just outside of the Wine-Searcher top 15 include: Poggio di Sotto, Castello Banfi (Brunello di Montalcino) and Ca’Marcanda (Bolgheri DOC), plus Toscana IGT labels such as Isole e Olena’s Cepparello, Tenuta Luce Luce, and Tua Rita Redigaffi.

Chianti Classico is absent from the ranking above, but has a rich history; its geographic boundaries were first established in 1716 by Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo III. Antinori, Frescobaldi, Fontodi, Castello di Ama, Ricasoli and Querciabella are just some of the top producers in the region.

Fattoria Le Pupille in Maremma, southwest Tuscany, is best-known for its Saffredi label but makes several wines, including small-volume Le Pupille from Syrah grapes. Meanwhile, Tenuta di Capezzana’s Treffiano is a key label in the Carmignano DOCG.

Top Tuscan vintages

Headline vintage ratings are always an over-simplification, but top vintages in the past decade include 2019 and 2016, particularly in Brunello di Montalcino and Bolgheri, with 2015 not far behind. Brunello 2010 is also considered a modern benchmark, while excitement has been building around Tuscany’s class of 2021, too.

Other vintages have been marked by the usual extremes of cool and wet conditions (2014) or extreme heat and drought (2017). Nonetheless, as various Decanter reports have shown, pleasurable wines from these vintages do await those prepared to do some careful selection.

Two Decanter Wine Legends

Sassicaia 1985

A breakthrough vintage for Sassicaia from Tenuta San Guido, the estate founded by Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta. Sassicaia’s renegade blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc had already beaten other Bordeaux blends from around the world in a 1978 Decanter tasting. But perfect conditions in 1985 created a wine of sheer brilliance. When Robert Parker rated the wine 100-points – afterwards saying he often mistook it for Château Mouton Rothschild 1986 – a legend was born. (£3,750 per 1x75cl, Hedonism Wine).

Ornellaia 2001

Ornellaia’s first vintage release was 1985, having been founded by Lodovico Antinori. The opulent counterpart to Sassicaia’s more stoic classicist, it quickly gained an audience thanks to its ebullient founder’s marketing nous. The highly regarded 2001 vintage in Bolgheri was particularly successful at the estate, a cool spring followed by ideal ripening conditions in summer. (£1,400 per 6x75cl in bond, Berry Bros & Rudd BBX trading platform).

Two more legends to know:

• Isole e Olena, Cepparello 1982 (£220 per 150cl magnum in bond, Falcon Vintners)

• Biondi Santi Il Greppo 1975 (Riserva) (£4,500 per 6x75cl in bond, Corney & Barrow)

When are the wines released?

Minimum ageing requirements play a role in the timing of new vintages.

Brunello di Montalcino: No release before 1 January in the fifth year after harvest (i.e. 1 January 2024 for the 2019 vintage), with two years in oak and four months in bottle. Riserva wines must be aged for an extra year, with six months in-bottle.

Chianti Classico: Gran Selezione and Riserva wines must be aged for at least 30 and 24 months respectively, each with three months in-bottle. Annata wines must be aged for 12 months. Individual estate schedules will vary. Biondi Santi released its Brunello di Montalcino 2018 wine (non-Riserva) in March 2024, and its 2016-vintage Riserva in 2023, for instance.

Tenuta San Guido: This producer prefers to maintain direct importer relations in its key markets. Its Sassicaia and Le Difese wines are released each February, with a later release for its Guidalberto label.

Tuscany and La Place de Bordeaux

Many top Italian wines have turned to La Place de Bordeaux to increase their international distribution. Masseto was one of the earlier adopters, joining La Place in 2009, with its 2006 vintage, closely followed by Solaia. But Bordeaux négociants have begun handling a growing number of Italian fine wines since then.

Today these also include the Super Tuscans Tignanello and Ornellaia which (at least partially) release their new wines in March and April respectively.

Other Tuscan wines released on La Place de Bordeaux include:

• Solaia

• Bibi Graetz Colore

• Castello di Fonterutoli Siepi

• Caiarossa

• Podere Giodo, Brunello di Montalcino • Tenuta di Biserno

Chianti Classico Gran Selezione coming of age?

There is plenty to discover in Chianti, and within the historic Chianti Classico DOCG zone specifically.

‘I think it’s a region that’s got huge potential,’ said Katherine Fisher, speaking to Decanter in her role as Italy buyer at UK-based merchant Goedhuis Waddesdon.

So-called ‘additional geographical units’ (UGAs) can now be used on labels of top-tier Chianti Classico Gran Selezione wines, as part of efforts to deepen knowledge of the region.

Fisher said there is work to do on ‘education and clarification’ to help consumers understand the wines better, but she added: ‘If you can get beyond that, there are really good wines at fantastic prices to be found.’

Chianti Classico DOCG wines don’t have a significant presence on the secondary market, but the 10-year-old Gran Selezione category could be interesting for collectors to watch.

Wines must be estate-grown, and Decanter Italy expert Michaela Morris recently noted how the category has become a home for projects focused on specific vineyard sites. Her review of new releases in 2024 included a 97-point rating for Querciabella’s Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 2019.

‘The estate’s third release, this Gran Selezione is among the top wines from Chianti Classico’s 2019 vintage,’ Morris wrote. ‘Just 4,000 bottles were produced from Querciabella’s site above 500 metres on the steep, stony slope of the Ruffoli hill.’

Value in Tuscany

Below are just five examples of Tuscan wines recently reviewed by Decanter experts, with cellaring potential but also for uncorking at the dinner table in the near future.

Five Tuscan wines for a drinking cellar under $60*

*Global average retail price in US$, ex-tax, on Wine-Searcher

Guidalberto 2021 | 95pts | $56

Tenuta San Guido is building a dedicated winery for Guidalberto, further emphasising its separate identity from Sassicaia. ‘This is a wine of velvety richness balanced by vivid acidity,’ wrote Susan Hulme MW of the 2021 vintage. Drinking window: 2024 – 2038.

Barone Ricasoli, Brolio, Chianti Classico 2022 | 91pts | $18

‘This year’s Brolio is simply textbook Chianti Classico, offering a fragrant juxtaposition of moist soil and spring blossoms on a well-padded backdrop of currants, cranberry and sour cherry,’ wrote Michaela Morris. ‘Really quite impressive for its almost 500,000-bottle production.’ Drinking window: 2024 – 2029.

Talenti, Brunello di Montalcino 2019 | 94pts | $56

‘From vineyards on Montalcino’s southeast and southwest slopes…Full-bodied and full-fruited, the palate offers great depth of expressive red berries and stony earth nuances,’ wrote Morris. Drinking window: 2026 – 2036.

Poliziano, Asinone, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2021 | 93pts | $54

‘Made since 1983, Poliziano’s iconic bottling hails from a 12-hectare expanse on marine-origin blue clay,’ wrote Morris, noting its velvety and polished tannins. ‘Juicy Sangiovese tanginess performs its refreshing magic.’ Drinking window: 2026 – 2036.

Caccia al Piano, Bolgheri Superiore, Tuscany, Italy 2020 | 94pts | $59

A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc from the San Biagio vineyard, aged 12 months in new French oak and 12 months in large oak vessels. ‘The attack is silky, with ripe tannins on a dense but crunchy palate thanks to fresh acidity,’ wrote Aldo Fiordelli in his Bolgheri 2020 report. Drinking window: 2024 – 2035.

Spotlight on Brunello di Montalcino 2019

Merchants in the US and UK reported strong consumer demand for initial releases from this top-rated vintage earlier this year, with some drawing comparisons to the superb 2016 wines.

Davy Żyw, senior buyer at Berry Bros & Rudd, told Decanter that 2019 was a strong option for collectors, saying: ‘The wines cellar well and offer brilliant value versus other fine wine regions.’

Three top-scoring wines from Michaela Morris’ 2019 vintage review:

• Conti Costanti 2019 | 100pts

• Le Chiuse 2019 | 99pts

• Il Marroneto Madonna della Grazie 2019 | 99pts*

*Also rated 100 points by Decanter’s Aldo Fiordelli in 2023.

Brunello di Montalcino 2019 pricing

Goedhuis Waddesdon’s Fisher said Brunello prices had been rising in recent years but that, in general, pricing ‘still made sense’ and the releases campaign had been ‘really successful’.

One of the wines Goedhuis offered was Conti Costanti 2019 at £325 per six-bottle case in bond (IB) on release. It has since sold out.

‘Simply gloriously sculpted,’ Morris wrote of the wine, also referring to her previous praise for the winery’s ‘Brunello- esque’ Rosso di Montalcino from the same vintage. ‘I can’t help but imagine what next year’s Riserva release has in store.’

In its February market report, Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, noted the rise in release prices for the 2019s. For example, it said Casanova di Neri’s Tenuta Nuova 2019 was released up 16.3% on the 2018 vintage release at £925 (12x75cl IB). It added that some 2019s were more expensive on release than the critically acclaimed 2016 wines, although its data also showed many 2016s have risen in price since release.

The market price for Il Marroneto’s Madonna della Grazie 2016, for example, is up 21.6% since release. Although that price is lower than it was a year ago, it still commanded a price of £3,830 (12x75cl IB) on 31 May 2024. The 2019 vintage was £2,551 on release.

Brunello di Montalcino on the secondary market

Matthew O’Connell, CEO of LiveTrade online trading platform at Bordeaux Index, noted that Brunello di Montalcino still lacked an active and broad secondary market presence, despite good buyer interest in the wines and a ‘very attractive’ quality-to-price ratio.

‘We would be expecting people to buy these wines as collectors, rather than with the expectation of trading them,’ he said.

US-based Zachys is a major retailer of Brunello di Montalcino wines, but the region is not common at auction, said its head of auction sales, Charles Antin. ‘That said, Soldera and, to a slightly lesser extent, Biondi Santi and Poggio di Sotto have very aggressive fan bases and do quite well in our auction[s],’ he told Decanter.

Poggio di Sotto Riserva’s global average price has also risen by around 35% since June 2019, to $411 per bottle, although Biondi Santi Riserva was only up 14%, to $639.

Top Super Tuscans: Fine wine market performance

Sassicaia, Tignanello, Solaia, Ornellaia and Masseto are regularly cited as Tuscany’s top names on the secondary market.

Prices have come off the boil recently amid a wider market malaise. Yet, data from Wine-Searcher tracking the average price of each label suggests this group has still seen notable increases in the past five years. Tignanello in particular has seen the largest gains yet remains considerably cheaper than its peers, on average.

Production volumes may contribute to price differences. Tignanello is produced from a 57ha site, while Solaia’s vineyard is just 20ha and Masseto just 11ha – which also supplies second label Massetino.

Fine wine prices cool off in a tough market

Fine wine prices have fallen on the secondary market over the past 12 to 18 months, following a strong upwards period for many top wine labels, impacted by higher interest rates and wider economic uncertainty.

The Liv-ex 1000 index, a broad tracker of secondary market prices on collectible wines, dropped 14% in value in the 12 months to 31 May.

While historical performance and the wider appeal of fine wine to global collectors are commonly given as reasons to expect long-term value growth, it’s unclear whether the market has bottomed-out in its current downturn.

Italy offers stability

Despite this, Liv-ex said in June that its Italy 100 sub-index has been a ‘beacon of stability amid the broader market downturn’. It tracks several collectible Italian wines, including the key Super Tuscans.

Figures below show the Italy 100 has still fallen back, but has outperformed its parent index, the Liv-ex 1000, and also Bordeaux First Growths, represented by the Liv-ex Fine Wine 50. The rise and subsequent dip has been more marked for Super Tuscans, but these wines have been the Italy 100’s best performers in recent years, as the Liv-ex chart below shows.

The Super Tuscan portion of the Italy 100 has also risen 0.5% in 2024 to date.

Super Tuscans vs Bordeaux

Super Tuscans had a quieter year in 2023, partly because the price gap to top Bordeaux narrowed, said UK merchant Bordeaux Index in January. ‘In simplest terms, Tuscany has changed [its] price context entirely while Bordeaux hasn’t,’ it said.

LiveTrade’s O’Connell previously reported good demand for the Sassicaia 2021 release. In June, he said the overall market was still subdued, but added: ‘We’re noticing there’s better trading in Champagne, Burgundy, Tuscany, and I think Bordeaux is lagging a bit in activity.’

Auction market perspective

Bordeaux and Burgundy tend to dominate at auction, and Tuscany’s share of the market is relatively small. US-based Zachys sold 1,212 lots of Tuscan wines at auction last year, totalling $1.46m – led of course by Masseto, Ornellaia, Sassicaia, Solaia and Tignanello. Its Piedmont sales were similar, with 1,250 lots sold for $1.59m.

However, it is a long way behind Burgundy (11,251 lots for $43.93m) and Bordeaux (6,077 lots for $19.89m). ‘There’s no question that the prices of Super Tuscans have increased in the last four years,’ said Zachys’ Charles Antin. However, the whole market also rose from 2020 to 2023, and so he advised caution on linking the higher value of Super Tuscans to increased interest in these wines specifically.

‘We see [Super Tuscan] wines in the 10 to 20-years-old range coming up with some frequency,’ he added. ‘Of course, the current releases of these wines are some of Zachys retail’s biggest sellers. So we have buyers at all spectrums of the market.’

Sassicaia 1985 still going strong

Some legendary vintages are less susceptible to market cycles, Antin added. ‘The 1985 Sassicaia is one that is impervious to market fluctuations. It only increases in value, albeit slowly. It is also roughly 10 times as expensive as every other vintage.’

Sassicaia 1985 was the most expensive Italian wine sold by online auction house iDealwine in 2023, according to its annual Barometer report. One bottle sold to a private buyer in Switzerland went for €2,170 ($2,346, £1,846), including taxes. In May 2024, US auction house Hart Davis Hart sold two lots of the wine:

• Sassicaia 1985 (2x75cl) | $5,975, including buyer’s premium (hammer price $5,000; high estimate $4,800).

• Sassicaia 1985 (1x75cl) | $2,629 (hammer $2,200; high e $2,400).

Masseto tops Italian sales at Sotheby’s

No Italian wine producers featured among the top 10 best-selling wine producers at Sotheby’s in 2023. Blue-chip Burgundy, first growth Bordeaux and Krug Champagne dominated the list. Still, Masseto accounted for 26% of Sotheby’s’ Italian wine auction sales by value.

The following 10 names accounted for 84% of Italian wine auction sales value at Sotheby’s last year:

• Masseto | 26% of total sales for Italy

• Sassicaia | 14%

•Gaja|14%

• Ornellaia | 9%

• Giacomo Conterno | 5%

• Bruno Giacosa | 4%

• G. Rinaldi | 4%

• Giuseppe Quintarelli | 3%

• Antinori | 3%

• Romano dal Forno | 2%

Ups and downs

Data sourced from Liv-ex up to 31/05/2024, unless otherwise stated. Liv-ex Market Price represents 12x75cl in bond, although some wines will be available in smaller case sizes. Prices are updated regularly on Liv-ex, and may also vary by merchant and market.

Up

Four risers over five years

• Sassicaia 2016

Liv-ex Market Price: £3,750

Tipped to become one of the all-time greats, its price has risen by around 65% in five years.

• Tignanello 2016

£1,540

This has doubled in price over five years, up 105% since June 2019, combining the strength of the vintage with particularly strong brand momentum.

• Masseto 2015

£9,200

One of Masseto’s best vintages, the price has risen 59% in five years, although it has fluctuated and was £8,008 in March. It remains less expensive than the celebrated 2001 vintage.

• Solaia 2013

£2,900

Another top Super Tuscan showing strong growth, the price is up 87% in five years.

Down

Three fallers over 12 months

• Bibi Graetz, Colore 2015

£1,800

A celebrated producer, but this wine was down by around 8% in the last 12 months. It was also down nearly 12% over five years.

• Sassicaia 2013

£2,300

This fell around 11.5% in 12 months to 31 May 2024, emphasising the current market malaise affecting many wines, but it is still up 77% over the last five years.

• Fontodi, Flaccianello della Pieve 2015

£1,161

This dropped 16% in 12 months, despite the quality of the vintage, but it remained up nearly 66% in five years.

Wine investment: Six things to consider

1. Some of the most prominent fine wines on the secondary market have a track record of increasing in value over time, particularly as available supplies diminish, but nothing is guaranteed. The pool of investment-grade wines is also relatively small.

2. Professional storage in bond is considered important. A wine’s condition and provenance can affect value.

3. Wine investment is unregulated. Only buy wine from reputable sources, and check provenance and condition as carefully as possible before buying.

4. Factor in costs, such as for storage, and possible selling fees. Storage is often charged at a fixed annual rate.

5. Some auction houses have previously told Decanter that full cases tend to be more in-demand, although limited-production wines may be released or allocated in smaller quantities – such as three-bottle cases.

6. If unsure, always seek professional advice.

Report by Chris Mercer for Decanter Premium. A freelance journalist and former editor of Decanter.com, Chris has written about the global fine wine market for more than a decade

Click here to join Decanter Premium now and enjoy instant access to the latest Bordeaux 2020 En Primeur Collector’s guide, as well as past Collector’s Guide’s including, Left Bank Bordeaux, Napa and Piedmont and Rhône.

Disclaimer

Please note that this report has been published purely for informational purposes and does not constitute financial or investment advice. The report includes Wine-Searcher monthly global average retail prices in US$ to provide a consistent point of comparison, as well as data and opinion from other trade sources. All of this information is subject to change, and the prices and availability of wines cited will vary between countries, currencies and retailers. Decanter and the editorial team behind this report do not accept liability for the ongoing accuracy of its contents. Seek independent and professional advice where necessary and be aware that wine investment is unregulated in several markets. Please be aware that prices can go down as well as up.

A downloadable PDF version of the Tuscany Collector’s Guide is available here

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Top Burgundy and mature Bordeaux have been among the highlights at recent Hong Kong-based auctions by Sotheby’s and Christie’s.

In April, a Sotheby’s auction featuring ‘a remarkable Burgundy cellar’ saw a six-bottle lot of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Romanée-Conti Grand Cru 1978 sell for HK$562,500 (£56,600), including buyer’s premium – albeit below the pre-sale high estimate of HK$800,000.

White Burgundies were also prominent in the auction. A 12-bottle collection of Domaine d’Auvenay’s En La Richarde, Puligny-Montrachet 1999 in its original wooden case (OWC) fetched HK$500,000 (high estimate: HK$550,000). Only 1,224 bottles of the wine were produced, said Sotheby’s. Domaine Ramonet, Montrachet 1995 (12x75cl, OWC) sold for HK$300,000 (high estimate: HK$320,000).

Bordeaux’s vaunted 1961 vintage again demonstrated its enduring appeal, with three magnums of Petrus 1961 selling for HK$400,000 (high estimate: HK$400,000).

Fellow auction house Christie’s ran a Hong Kong-based online auction, ending 8 April, and highlights included 12 bottles of Henri Jayer’s Cros Parantoux, Vosne-Romanée 2000, with consecutive bottle numbers. Six two-bottle lots achieved prices ranging from HK$175,000 to HK$200,000, including buyer’s premium (high estimate per lot: HK$220,000).

From Bordeaux, Château d’Yquem, Sauternes 1990 (12x75cl) sold for HK$30,000 (high estimate: HK$30,000). Two 12-bottle lots of Lynch-Bages, Pauillac 5CC 1961 fetched HK$40,000 and HK$32,500 (high estimate per lot: HK$40,000).

Harlan’s Promontory shows big gains

A key index of fine wine secondary market performance, the Liv-ex 100, has increased in value for the first time in 12 months.

Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, said in April that the index crept up by 0.4% in March, although it was still down 14% over 12 months. Meanwhile, the broader Liv-ex 1000 index continued to fall, dipping 0.6% in March.

Promontory 2018, a Napa Cabernet Sauvignon made by the Harlan family, was the Liv-ex 100’s best performer in March. Its ‘mid-price’, defined as the mid-point between the highest live bid and lowest live offer on Liv-ex, rose nearly 16%, versus February, to £7,600 (for 12x75cl in bond).

Promontory’s 2019 vintage (Decanter 99pts) was one of several wines recently released internationally via La Place de Bordeaux. UK merchant Lay & Wheeler offered it at £840 (1x75cl in bond).

Market for Bordeaux sluggish

Bordeaux has edged towards this year’s spring en primeur release season against a backdrop of quiet trading and declining fine wine prices on the secondary market.

Buyers still turned up for the recent release of Château Latour, Pauillac 2017. Sales were similar in quantity to Latour 2015, which debuted last year, said Joss Fowler, UK sales director at merchant Farr Vintners. Yet, Fowler added: ‘Demand for young Bordeaux is soft, as it is for wines from all regions.’

Trading on Bordeaux wines has been ‘extremely quiet’, said Matthew O’Connell, CEO of Bordeaux Index’s LiveTrade online trading platform. Bordeaux has lagged the price performance of other key regions in recent years, LiveTrade data shows. ‘We think [Bordeaux] is undervalued,’ said O’Connell, though he added it’s currently difficult to see a catalyst for growth.

Meanwhile at Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, the bid-to offer ratio for Bordeaux wines was 0.4, close to a tenth of its peak level two years ago, said chief commercial officer Anthony Maxwell. Liv-ex’s Fine Wine 50 index, which tracks first growths, was down by 2.7% in value over five years, while the broad-based Liv-ex 1000 index was up 12.3%.

En primeur prices to fall?

There was speculation in April that release prices will fall for Bordeaux 2023 en primeur wines, although each château has its own strategy and market context.

A report by analyst group Wine Lister said Bordeaux 2022 wines, released last year at ‘record high prices’ in some cases, have ‘so far remained stagnant on the secondary market, despite the noise around the high quality of the vintage’.

Farr Vintners’ Fowler told Decanter, ‘It’s a buyer’s market and the 2023 en primeur campaign will only be successful if it offers the consumer excellent value for money with prices below those of all physically available vintages in the market today.’

Liv-ex’s Maxwell said there was no shortage of quality wine available to buyers from recent vintages in Bordeaux and other regions. Nevertheless, Bordeaux’s en primeur campaign for the 2023 vintage could help to energise the market if release prices are deemed sufficiently attractive, he added.

The Bordeaux Index view

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com.

Headlines on Bordeaux in the last two to three years have tended to relate to En Primeur pricing rather than strong market price performance, which has been associated more with Burgundy and Champagne.

Bordeaux Index believes that Bordeaux is substantially undervalued, especially post the 2023 market price drift. The key wines are central pillars of the global fine wine market and the underperformance vs other regions seems significantly overdone.

However, elevated En Primeur pricing cannot lead the market higher – and indeed we have observed previously that it can have the opposite effect by muting engagement with the wines already in the market.

There would be great benefit to Bordeaux demand and secondary market prices from an En Primeur campaign which seeks to re-engage buyers. While that will not be made easier by the prevailing environment, we believe it is nevertheless possible given the right release pricing.

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Rare whiskies were notable laggards among ‘passion’ investments tracked by global consultancy group Knight Frank in 2023, a new report has said. The Knight Frank Luxury Investment Index, tracking 10 collectibles including wine, cars, whisky and handbags, dipped 1% last year, said Knight Frank’s Wealth Report 2024, published in March.

Its sub-index for rare whisky bottles, compiled by the Rare Whisky 101 group, dropped 9%, although it has increased by 280% over the past 10 years.

Some whiskies in the index still rose in price last year, said the report, suggesting an uneven market performance. UK merchant Bordeaux Index reported rare whisky prices up 13% on average in 2023, versus a 12% drop in fine wine prices. Strong performers in Scotch included Springbank, Balvenie and Dalmore, as well as casks of Macallan, it said. More rare whisky price gains were likely in 2024, it added.

Knight Frank also surveyed more than 600 ‘private bankers, intermediaries, wealth advisers and family offices’ working with ultra high net worth individuals (UHNWI). When asked which passion investments were becoming more popular with clients, wine and whisky ranked third and fourth respectively, behind only art and classic cars.

‘Joy of ownership’ was the primary motive for ‘investments of passion’, and luxury collectibles made up 20% of UHNWI portfolios on average. Knight Frank also said the number of UHNWIs – those with a net worth of at least US$30m (£23.4m) – rose 4.2% globally last year.

New Super Tuscan releases

With top Super Tuscan and Brunello di Montalcino wines recently having hit the market, Decanter reports on the secondary market performance of these Italian vinous gems.

Newly released Sassicaia 2021 (99-points, Decanter) was the most traded wine by value on Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, in the week ending 29 February. In March, Liv-ex quoted Sassicaia 2021’s market price at £3,300 (12x75cl in bond).

Data from Liv-ex suggests some top Italian wines have suffered less than other names on the fine wine secondary market in the past year. Liv-ex’s Italy 100 index fell 6% in 12 months to 29 February. Its parent index, the Liv-ex 1000, dropped 15%.

Super Tuscans have had a quieter year, said UK merchant Bordeaux Index, but its data showed average prices on four key names – Sassicaia, Tignanello, Solaia and Ornellaia – remained higher than in early 2020 (see chart, below).

That has narrowed the price gap to top Bordeaux, said Matthew O’Connell, CEO of Bordeaux Index’s LiveTrade platform. He added Tuscany may be better-placed than Bordeaux in 2024. ‘Trading in Bordeaux is still pretty subdued and I think that’s less the case for Super Tuscans,’ he said.

Brunello di Montalcino: One to watch?

According to several merchants, recent Brunello di Montalcino 2019 releases have enthused buyers, but this famous Tuscan enclave still has a minor secondary market presence.

Charles Antin, auctioneer and head of wine auction sales at US-based Zachys, said: ‘Most producers don’t have very significant resale value – they simply taste better in the glass than they perform on the [auction] block.

‘That said, Soldera and, to a slightly lesser extent, Biondi-Santi and Poggio di Sotto have very aggressive fan bases and do quite well in our auctions.’

Zachys sold 553 lots of Brunello for a total US$385,000 (£300,000) from 84 producers in 2023, excluding Soldera wines bottled as Toscana IGP (it left the Brunello DOCG after vintage 2006).

O’Connell said Bordeaux Index sees significant collector interest in Brunello di Montalcino, given its attractive quality-to-price ratio, but it’s hard to predict whether secondary market trading activity will increase. ‘It is a region that has the potential to do it.’

The Bordeaux Index view

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com.

Super Tuscans were one of the key beneficiaries of the 2021/2022 wine market strength, substantially altering their price context.

The significance of brand was core to this period and Super Tuscans tick that box perfectly in particular, with a small group of wines all of which have very high recognition beyond the collecting community.

In 2023, SuperTuscans did see a fall in market prices, though this was more modest than experienced by other regions. Market demand remained reasonably strong, aided by the low availability of stock.

Looking forward, we have broadly been of the view that compared to, for example, top Bordeaux, relative value of the SuperTuscans was strained and therefore their ongoing

momentum might be hampered.

However, given the argument that Bordeaux’s prices remaining static seems to be due to Bordeaux-specific factors, we wonder if Super Tuscans may surprise to the upside in 2024.

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Fine wine buyers have shaken off their caution to pounce on highly rated Burgundy 2022 en primeur releases, according to UK merchants.

David Roberts MW, Burgundy and Bordeaux buying director at Goedhuis & Co, said: ‘After such a small crop in 2021, clients are very keen to buy what is an extremely attractive Burgundy vintage in 2022.’

Vintage quality appeared to override concerns about the economy, observed Jason Haynes, Burgundy buyer and director at Flint Wines. ‘Many domaines have been heavily oversubscribed,’ said Haynes, commenting on demand at Flint’s private client arm Stannary Wine.

Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, said the campaign ‘has so far gone better than many dared imagine late last year’. Several merchants reported release prices largely consistent with last year. Liv-ex said some 40% of producers still increased prices, even if modestly, ‘which has made selling tricky in some quarters’.

It acknowledged producers’ need to cover higher costs by raising prices, but it also questioned whether current price levels can be sustained, particularly given the relatively

large 2023 vintage waiting in cellars.

A separate survey of Liv-ex members found 36% of respondents were ‘quite pessimistic’ about the fine wine trade in 2024, with 41% ‘neutral’. Tuscany and Bordeaux came top when members were asked to predict which regions would perform best on the market this year.

Burgundy prices soften further

Recent figures suggest Burgundy grand cru prices continue to retreat on the secondary market, although auction buyers are still interested in the rarest names.

Top Burgundies have been underperforming major equity markets, unlike a couple of years ago, indicated Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, in a new report (see chart). Its Burgundy 150 sub-index, which tracks the prices of mainly grands crus, also fell 3.7% in January.

It was down nearly 20% over 12 months, and some wines dropped more sharply – such as Domaine de la Romanée-Conti’s (DRC) Richebourg 2014 and Domaine Armand Rousseau’s Chambertin 2015.

Matthew O’Connell, CEO of the LiveTrade online trading platform at merchant Bordeaux Index, said blue-chip Burgundy prices fell around 13% in 2023, although performance

varies.

Even on worst-affected names, ‘prices remain well above the early 2021 levels – it’s all relative’, he added. In a recent outlook report, the merchant reiterated its wariness about price sustainability outside the top 25 ‘blue-chip type’ producers.

Auction buyers still eyeing rare wines

A review of the year 2023 by New York-based auction house Zachys found Burgundy prices remained above pre-Covid pandemic levels. Trends cannot necessarily be discerned from individual auctions, but a Sotheby’s sale of DRC wines at a Hong Kong-based online auction offered a snapshot of buyer sentiment in early 2024.

Highlights included a three-litre jeroboam of DRC, Romanée-Conti 2002. It sold for HK$520,000 (£53,000), including buyer’s premium (estimate: HK$500,000-$700,000). A magnum of Romanée-Conti 1998 sold for HK$187,500 (e: HK$170,000- $260,000), and a single bottle of the 2013 vintage realised HK$137,500 (high e: HK$130,000).

‘Value’ grand cru

Liv-ex’s recent Burgundy report found ‘many village wines have become disproportionately expensive compared to grands crus’. It also said Clos des Lambrays, Clos du Vougeot and Corton-Charlemagne were comfortably below the average market price of other grands crus.

The former is a near-monopole of Domaine des Lambrays, which has been owned by LVMH since 2014. Young vintages of its Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru wines recently received strong ratings from Decanter’s Burgundy correspondent Charles Curtis MW.

The Bordeaux Index view

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com.

Across 2021-2022, ‘blue chip’ Burgundy saw price gains of about 60%, with some producers up towards doubling – this came not that long after outsized price gains in 2018, the prices resulting from which had largely been sustained in the interim period.

It would have been surprising if there was not some ‘settling’ of prices at slightly lower levels (as per 2019) after such a sharp move. However, the significant decline in activity in the wine market has led to prices drifting further than we had anticipated in Burgundy – mid to high-teen percentages, with some producers moving further down, usually those who had seen the biggest gains (Leroy, Rousseau).

We said in 2018 that prices over the long term would continue upwards (rather than a ‘bubble’ bursting), and this remains our view. The increase in global UHNW luxury consumption is an ongoing dynamic and when that demand side meets a strained supply side, like Burgundy, the results are inevitable.

Indeed, we have seen already this year that for the ‘right’ Burgundy wines (high rarity, large formats etc), prices are close to the 2022 highs; we do, however, see the recovery of prices more broadly to 2022 levels as being beyond H1 2024.

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The past decade has seen Champagne take a commanding place in the fine wine market. Exclusive and luxurious while simultaneously attainable and – relatively – affordable, Champagne has been blessed with multiple attributes.

Exceptional winemaking, critical acclaim and stylistic diversity have delighted collectors and propelled secondary market price appreciation.

The last 12 months have dampened the celebratory mood somewhat, however. Worldwide shipments dropped 8% in volume in 2023 according to the Comité Champagne, although exports still accounted for 172 million bottles. Prices too were checked by the difficult trading conditions last year – though Champagne remains a top price-performer in the long-run.

But Champagne continues to be compelling. Its history resounds with high society admirers and entrepreneurial exploits, from Sir Winston Churchill’s prolific consumption to the pioneering work of Madame Clicquot-Ponsardin.

In 2015, this storied past was recognised when Champagne’s hillsides, houses and labyrinthine network of underground cellars were placed on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Amid a landscape of changing tastes, Champagne’s output of everything from Blanc de Blancs to gastronomic rosés, across vintages and grape varieties, and houses great and small, offers an incredibly deep well of wines for those with a taste for exploration.

This introductory guide for collectors highlights some of the key names to know and factors to consider, drawing on recent exclusive reports for Decanter Premium, while also exploring the dynamics of top vintage cuvées on the secondary market.

Champagne 101

As a very broad guide, the Côte des Blancs is predominantly home to Chardonnay. The Montagne de Reims is better known for Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier is most associated with the Vallée de la Marne. Further south, Pinot Noir also dominates in the Côte des Bar.

Styles may also be influenced by a range of other factors, such as access to particular vineyard sites or decisions in the cellar, including use of oak, length of lees ageing, or dosage.

Some producers communicate disgorgement timing – the removal of lees. Champagne Bruno Paillard has published disgorgement dates on labels since 1983, for example.

Magnums and larger-format bottles are relatively prominent in Champagne. All other conditions being equal, the wines are considered to age more slowly in larger formats, with some reports of certain cuvées developing a finer texture.

Most popular Champagnes on Wine-Searcher

Below are the 15 most searched-for Champagnes on Wine-Searcher.com.

Such a list naturally only represents the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the richness and variety offered by Champagne houses and growers. Krug, Dom Pérignon and Moët are all owned by luxury goods group LVMH.

Several top grower producers to know include Jacques Selosse, Ulysse Collin and Egly-Ouriet.

Non-vintage (NV) | Multi-vintage

The list above is dominated by top vintage cuvées, but most Champagne is non-vintage-specific – or multi-vintage. Such wines can range from entry-level to prestige cuvée.

This has historically denoted a particular ‘house style’. However, there is also a growing trend for producers to try to elucidate subtle character changes between releases, wrote Decanter’s Champagne correspondent, Tom Hewson, in a recent report for Premium subscribers.

Two long-standing examples of top-end, multi-vintage wines:

Krug, founded in 1843, is celebrated for its Grande Cuvée. The current-release 171ième Edition is composed around the 2015 harvest, but is a blend of 131 different wines spanning 12 vintages back to 2000.

Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle ‘Itération No. 26’ was released in 2023 composed of 2012 (65%), 2008 (25%) and 2007 (10%).

Expectations were especially high for Grand Siècle ‘No.26’, due to its reliance on the highly regarded 2012 and 2008 vintages.

‘The wine more than meets them,’ wrote Hewson last year, ‘tempering the generosity of 2012’s fruit – ripe apricots, white peach, clementines and sunny, zesty citrus – with a pitch-perfect streak of 2008 tautness and structure.’ He gave the wine 96 points.

Three NV / multi-vintage Champagnes for a drinking cellar under £60 ($75)*

Exclusively reviewed for Decanter Premium subscribers in the past 12 months.

Eric Rodez, Cuvée des Crayères NV

93pts | $67

‘With its notes of almonds, white flowers, ripe pear and quince fruit, this non-vintage Ambonnay blend is silky and rich, dense but not heavy,’ wrote Charles Curtis MW. It contains 40% Chardonnay and 60% Pinot Noir. Drinking window 2023 – 2030.

Louis Roederer, Collection 244 Brut NV

93pts | $57

Created from 2019-vintage base wine, plus a perpetual reserve and oak-aged reserve wines, this is the latest edition of Roederer’s new multi-vintage concept. ‘Still feels youthful and fragrant with juicy pear, blossom and almond notes,’ wrote Tom Hewson. Drinking window 2023 – 2028.

Pierre Péters, Cuvée de Réserve, Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Brut NV

92pts | $67

‘A benchmark NV Blanc de Blancs,’ wrote Hewson. ‘100% Chardonnay from grand cru villages in the Côte des Blancs. Based on the 2018 vintage with 50% reserves from a perpetual reserve going back to 1988.’ Drinking window 2023 – 2028.

*Wine-Searcher global average retail price per 75cl, ex-tax (US$). Prices will vary by merchant.

Vintages

All the usual caveats about generalised vintage ratings must apply. That said, certain vintages are considered particularly strong.

Six Decanter five-star vintages in Champagne:

• 2012
• 2008
• 1996
• 1990
• 1982
• 1976

From the 21st century, the 2002 vintage might also be ranked in this company. Looking ahead, there have been excited whispers that 2018, 2019 and 2020 could be another high-quality trilogy to rival 1988, 1989 and 1990.

Nothing is set in stone, however. Champagne’s 2013 vintage initially struggled for attention following the highly-regarded 2012, but Decanter’s Hewson found much to recommend in a recent ‘10 years on’ tasting.

Viticulture and winemaking also continues to evolve, not least as producers seek to adapt to climate change. Organic and biodynamic viticulture is increasingly common, while the days of struggling for adequate ripeness seem a long time ago now.

Champagne releases

Champagnes generally emerge when producers consider them ready to drink, although the best examples can continue to develop complexity over many decades.

Vintage Champagnes aren’t released every year, and timings vary between producers. Last year, for instance, Salon 2013 became only the 44th vintage of the Champagne released since its founding in 1905.

This often means that not every house is releasing the same vintage at any given time and, unlike say Bordeaux en primeur, releases are often staggered over the course of a year.

To get a better handle on who is releasing what and when, Ruairi O’Hara, of the private client and investment teams at UK merchant Goedhuis & Co, advises calling merchants to ‘ask if they have an idea of the [Champagne release] calendar for that forthcoming year’.

Six vintage releases in 2023 tasted and rated by Decanter:

• Louis Roederer, Cristal 2015 | 95 points
• Taittinger, Comtes de Champagne 2013 | 96pts
• Salon, Le Mesnil, Blanc de Blancs 2013 | 97pts
• Philipponnat, Clos des Goisses 2014 | 97pts
• Dom Pérignon 2013 | 96pts
• Billecart-Salmon, Cuvée Nicolas François 2008 | 95pts

Source: Tasted on release for Decanter Premium by Tom Hewson. Cristal 2015 reviewed by Anne Krebiehl MW and Clos des Goisses 2014 reviewed by Georgie Hindle

Late-release stocks

Longer-aged releases are a feature of the market, too. Debuts last year included Philipponnat’s Clos de Goisses ‘LV’ 1998, released under its late disgorgement programme, and Cristal Vinothèque 2002. Meanwhile, Gosset introduced a new long-aged rosé, ‘12 Ans de Cave a Minima’ (NV).

Dom Pérignon launched its ‘Plénitude’ (P) late-release system in 2014, replacing its ‘Oenothèque’ programme. Vintages are normally aged for at least eight years before release, but ‘P2’ editions may be held back for around 15 years, while ‘P3’ can take 30 years or more to emerge, as the house explained at a Decanter Fine Wine Encounter Masterclass in 2018.

Three Decanter Wine Legends

See the full series here

Philipponnat, Clos des Goisses 1964

‘This was a superb year for Champagne, with excellent flowering and a hot, dry summer,’ wrote Decanter’s Stephen Brook, author of the Wine Legend series. The Philipponnat family once supplied ‘Sun King’ Louis XIV, and Clos des Goisses is sourced from a prized 5.83-hectare walled vineyard on a steep, south-facing slope in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ.

Louis Roederer, Cristal 1959

Created in 1876 for Tsar Nicolas II, Cristal is a pioneer of the prestige cuvée concept. ‘It is rare for any vintage of Cristal to disappoint,’ wrote Decanter’s Brook, yet the 1959 is ‘clearly exceptional’. Cristal is produced entirely from Roederer-owned vineyards, and the team has embraced biodynamic farming methods in the 21st century under highly respected winemaker Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon, chef de caves and executive vice president at Roederer.

Dom Pérignon 1975

‘Although Dom Pérignon is only released in vintages that are considered outstanding, the 1975 has always been recognised as one of the very finest,’ wrote Brook. Dom Pérignon made its debut in 1936, with the 1921 vintage. The 1961 vintage also features in Decanter’s Wine Legend series, as does Krug 1928.

One to watch: Salon, Le Mesnil, Blanc de Blancs 2008

The smallest harvest on record for the house, which sources its 100% Chardonnay from select sites in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. Salon 2008 was aged entirely in 8,000 magnums, and originally released in a case alongside two bottles each of 2007, 2006 and 2004. ‘This Champagne is among the greatest wines Salon has ever produced and should age gracefully for decades to come,’ wrote Decanter’s Charles Curtis MW in 2020.

Performance of top Champagnes on the fine wine market

There are never any guarantees, but Champagne prices have historically had a reputation for gradually rising on the secondary market, post-release, as drinkers popped corks and supplies of particular cuvées dwindled.

That script has been rewritten in recent years for some of the most prominent vintage cuvées, although 2023 saw something of a reality check for the fine wine market overall.

Ruairi O’Hara, of Goedhuis & Co, said that, at the top-end, critical praise for 2008 and 2012 drove stronger interest from both new and existing collectors.

Figures below track Wine-Searcher’s global average retail price (1x75cl, ex-tax) for some of the key Champagne labels on the market over the past five years.

Precise prices vary by market, but also by vintage. For example, Taittinger’s Comtes de Champagne 2008 averaged $273 per bottle ex-tax, versus $180 for the newly-released 2013 vintage, $212 for the 2012 vintage, $201 for the 2006 and $383 for the 2002.

What goes up?

Data going back to 2004 from global marketplace Liv-ex, shows how its Champagne 50 sub-index began to outperform its headline fine wine indices in late 2013 (See Chart 1).

After peaking in 2022, there followed a sharp correction. The Liv-ex Champagne 50 fell 18.3% in 2023, although it remained 51% higher than five years earlier. Of the key regional sub-indices constituting the Liv-ex 1000 index, only the Rhône 100 fared worse last year. (See Chart 2).

Six major fallers over 12 months within the Liv-ex Champagne 50

• Krug, Vintage Brut 2008: Down 36%
• Jacques Selosse, Millésime 2008: Down 28%
• Louis Roederer, Cristal 2012: Down 27%
• Salon, Le Mesnil 2007: Down 25%
• Dom Pérignon 2009: Down 22%
• Bollinger, La Grande Année 2008: Down 18%.

Source: Liv-ex, Champagne 50 sub-index. Data to 31/12/2023.

Has a bubble popped?

UK-based merchant Bordeaux Index said in January that Cristal and Krug have seen the biggest price reversals overall, having risen furthest in 2021 and 2022.

But it also added: ‘There is no grand marque Champagne which is up less than 20% [in price] over the last three years.’

Some older Champagnes have been more resistant to price corrections. Dom Pérignon 1996 was ‘experiencing a negligible pullback compared to more recent vintages of the wine’, said Liv-ex recently.

‘I think that a corrective phase [for the market] is natural after such a sustained period of growth, particularly for Champagne, which was absolutely rocketing up,’ O’Hara said of the market.

‘We have seen more people come to sell their wines on the market or sell their wines on our broking lists over the past year, but it hasn’t really been limited to Champagne,’ he said in December.

Taking a longer-term view, Bordeaux Index said the spike in Champagne buying in recent years was partly driven by broader global consumption of fine wine, with a focus on strong brands, and also by the top cuvées being undervalued.

‘It is a region for which ongoing consumption expansion and price progression is well-underpinned on a long-term basis and in that context we see the current pricing levels as a buying opportunity,’ said the merchant.

O’Hara added there is ‘definitely a broader group of buyers for Champagne’, with greater interest from collectors than in the past.

A buyer’s market in 2024?

There were mixed views in early 2024 on whether prices will fall further. At the end of December 2023, Liv-ex said that, ‘bearish momentum and increased volatility’ on the Liv-ex 1000 index pointed to an ongoing downward trend in the short-term.

Bordeaux Index said fine wine prices fell 12% on average in 2023 amid a quieter overall trading environment. ‘Historical [market] trends support market prices likely having reached a bottom point and this is our base case,’ it said.

It didn’t expect an upturn in the first quarter of 2024, though, leaving scope for ‘opportunistic trading’, including on ‘young to middle-aged Champagne’.

Cases of Champagne were trading at around 5% below market price on average on Liv-ex in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Given the macroeconomic headwinds and the high rate of buying in recent years, it remains to be seen how many buyers can be tempted back into the market in 2024.

Speculation about interest rate cuts may be one factor to watch closely. Bordeaux Index noted a correlation between rapid rate rises last year and diminishing fine wine demand.

Auction snapshot

Data from US-based Zachys gives an indication of Champagne’s relative prominence on the auction market, which is dominated by the superstars of Bordeaux and Burgundy.

Zachys auction sales 2023: Top five regions

• Burgundy: $43.9m | 11,251 lots
• Bordeaux: $19.9m | 6,077 lots
• California: $5.3m | 4,816 lots
• Champagne: $3.6m | 1,688 lots
• Rhône: $2.1m | 1,747 lots

Source: Zachys 2023 Year in Review (auction.zachys.com)

While auction houses have continued to report strong buyer demand for rare wines, they have not been immune to the wider market malaise.

France-based iDealwine said: ‘Top champagnes are selling well, but we’re not seeing the same bidding wars that marked 2022.’

It added: ‘The average hammer price per bottle decreased from €259 (£221) in 2022 to €207 (£177) in 2023, a drop in price of 20%.’ Its four most sought-after labels in both years were Selosse, Dom Pérignon, Salon and Krug.

The group highlighted strong interest in grower Champagnes more generally in some markets, notably the US, and it named several producers as ‘rising stars’. These include:

• Cédric Bouchard
• Romain Henin
• Egly-Ouriet
• Emmanuel Brochet
• Aurélien Lurquin
• Pascal Agrapart
• Jérôme Prévost

Legendary Champagne under the hammer

iDealwine said its three most expensive bottles of Champagne bought at auction in 2023 were:

Krug, Clos du Mesnil 1979*: €4,132 (US$4,473)

Dom Pérignon, P3 1976: €3,968

Jacques Selosse, Millésime, Extra Brut 1er Cru 2008: €3,100

Auctions of single-owner wine collections by Christie’s and Sotheby’s in the final weeks of 2023 also featured vaunted Champagnes.

A Christie’s New York auction on 11 December saw six bottles of Cristal Rosé 2004, in original packaging, fetch $4,000, including buyer’s premium (high estimate: $3,500). Twelve bottles of Cristal Brut 1999 sold for $5,250 (above its $5,000 high estimate) and three bottles of Salon, Le Mesnil 1999 fetched $3,250 (also above their high estimate of $3,000).

In Hong Kong, Sotheby’s held a major sale of wines from collector Pierre Chen (see below), with more to follow in 2024.

Five highlights from ‘The Epicurean’s Atlas: The Encyclopaedic Cellar’

Hong Kong, 24 & 25 November.

Salon, Le Mesnil, Blanc de Blancs 1985 (12x75cl)

Sold for: HK$300,000 (US$30,281) (estimate: HK$110,000 – HK$150,000)

Dom Pérignon, P3, 1971 (6x75cl, OWC*)

Sold for: HK$212,500 (estimate: HK$170,000 – HK$240,000)

Dom Pérignon, P3, 1982 (6x75cl)

Sold for: HK$175,000 (estimate: HK$140,000 – HK$190,000)

Salon, Le Mesnil, Blanc de Blancs 1990 (6x150cl, OWC)

Sold for: HK$200,000 (estimate: HK$160,000 – HK$220,000)

Krug, Clos d’Ambonnay Trilogie – 1996, 1998, 2000 (3x75cl OWC)

Sold for: HK$187,500 (estimate: HK$150,000 – HK$220,000)

*Original wooden case. NB: Final prices include buyer’s premium.

Five factors to remember if you’re considering wine as a possible investment:

A wine’s condition can affect value, meaning professional storage in controlled temperature and humidity is important.

Check a wine’s provenance as carefully as possible before buying.

Remember to consider costs, such as for storage, and possible selling fees.

Some auction houses have previously told Decanter that full cases tend to be more in-demand.

Price increases are, of course, never guaranteed.

Report by Chris Mercer for Decanter Premium. A freelance journalist and former editor of Decanter.com, Chris has written about the global fine wine market for more than a decade

Click here to join Decanter Premium now and enjoy instant access to the latest Bordeaux 2020 En Primeur Collector’s guide, as well as past Collector’s Guide’s including, Left Bank Bordeaux, Napa and Piedmont and Rhône.

Disclaimer

Please note that this report has been published purely for informational purposes and does not constitute financial or investment advice.The report includes Wine-Searcher monthly global average retail prices in US$ to provide a consistent point of comparison, as well as data and opinion from other trade sources. All of this information is subject to change, and the prices and availability of wines cited will vary between countries, currencies and retailers. Decanter and the editorial team behind this report do not accept liability for the ongoing accuracy of its contents. Seek independent and professional advice where necessary and be aware that wine investment is unregulated in several markets. Please be aware that prices can go down as well as up.

A downloadable PDF version of the Champagne Collector’s Guide is available here

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Collector’s Guide: Right Bank Bordeaux

Collector’s Guide: Left Bank Bordeaux

Collector’s guide: The rise of Piedmont

Collector’s guide: Napa Valley wine

Last year was challenging for the fine wine market. Prices dropped by some 12% overall, said UK-based merchant Bordeaux Index in a January 2024 report.

That said, its transaction data showed prices were broadly flat over a two-year period and still up 18% versus three years ago (see chart 1, below).

Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, reported in January that ‘bearish momentum and increased volatility’ on its Liv-ex 1000 index suggested a downward trend would continue in the short-term. The index, calculated monthly, dropped 13.6% in value in 2023, and fell by 0.7% in December.

Bordeaux Index said market sentiment was ‘reasonably neutral’, with limited selling activity. ‘Historical trends support market prices likely having reached a bottom point, and this is our base case,’ it said. However, it didn’t expect an upturn in the first quarter of 2024.

A number of trade sources have mentioned potential opportunities for buyers. Wines from Bordeaux, Burgundy, Italy and Champagne, for example, were trading below the market price, on average, on Liv-ex in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Three Bordeaux 2017 wines were among the top-traded labels on Liv-ex in the second week of January 2024, but the platform said some transactions were below en primeur release prices (see chart 2, below).

Bordeaux Index said the rapid interest rate rises of 2023 may have dampened fine wine market trading. Speculation about rate cuts in 2024 is potentially significant.

UK-based Cult Wine Investment, part of the Cult Wines group, said interest rate cuts, combined with lower prices, could help to increase wine market activity in 2024, ‘potentially rejuvenating the landscape and building momentum heading into 2025’.

The Bordeaux Index view

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com 

For fine wine, after such a strong run (especially for Champagne [+69%] and Burgundy [+58%]) across 2021-2022, a settling of activity and prices was to be expected in 2023, certainly looking at historical trends.

However, the year overall saw a decline in market activity far beyond our initial expectations and this meaningfully impacted prices, especially in the second half.

Champagne, young Bordeaux and some Burgundy pockets were most affected. The market overall was down 12% across 2023.

Looking ahead to 2024 in the fine wine market, we note that November and December 2023 seemed more stable, and with more resilient demand pockets than we saw during Q3. Historical trends suggest that market prices are likely to have reached a low point, and this is our base case. If prices have settled at this level, the question becomes when will things turn upwards: something we think lies beyond Q1. In the meantime, there will be some interesting opportunities to buy in certain regions such as young to middle-aged Champagne, certain top Burgundies and oversold key Bordeaux wines, especially older vintages.

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Thirty Bordeaux wines featured in Liv-ex’s new ‘Power 100’ ranking of brand performance on the secondary market, compared to 25 in the previous edition. Château Angélus rose to ninth, from 65th a year earlier.

‘Buyers have sharpened their focus to reflect greater risk aversion,’ said Justin Gibbs, Liv-ex deputy chairman and exchange director. ‘They are seeking stable and liquid brands, offering relative value, which favours Bordeaux over Burgundy and California.’

Liv-ex’s Fine Wine 50 index, tracking Bordeaux first growths, still fell 13% in 11 months to 30 November, however.

Focus: relative value in five-star vintages

Fresh data from Bordeaux Index’s LiveTrade online platform (see chart) suggested ‘legendary’ Bordeaux 1989 and 1990 wines have mirrored the price trajectory of counterparts from younger, lesser vintages.

‘In general, we think legendary Bordeaux is particularly underpriced,’ said LiveTrade CEO Matthew O’Connell, referring broadly to top-rated wines from five-star vintages in the past 40 years.

Château Latour 1990 (£10,250 per 12x75cl in bond, LiveTrade) was relatively inexpensive in a wider market context, he said. ‘Think what you can get for that in Burgundy.’

Vaunted Haut-Brion 1989 was one outlier, at £26,000 (12x75cl in bond).

Historic Bordeaux wine legends at auction

Decades-old Bordeaux superstars featured strongly in auctions of single-owner collections in late 2023, though scarcity means trading activity in such wines is limited. Three wines from Decanter’s ‘Wine legends’ series were among the highlights:

• Cheval Blanc 1947 (6x75cl), sold for HK$375,000 (£38,000) – Estimate HK$300,000-$500,000, Sotheby’s

• Mouton Rothschild 1945 (12x75cl), sold for US$200,000 (£158,000) – Estimate $95,000-$150,000, Zachys

• Latour 1961 (3x150cl), sold for £56,250 – Estimate £32,000-£42,000, Christie’s (Sale price includes buyer’s premium)

‘There’s no question that bidders were willing to pay a premium for older wines with an excellent chain of provenance,’ said Charles Antin, global head of auction sales and auctioneer at Zachys, following its auction of collector Peter Hut’s wines.

The Bordeaux Index view

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com

The performance of Bordeaux as a region has lagged the broader wine market in the last few years. Partly this is due to the outsized performance of regions such as Champagne and Burgundy, but there is no doubt that Bordeaux-specific factors are also at play, including en primeur pricing (in general, with notable exceptions) across the last two vintages failing to drive market engagement.

This means that we see a significant relative value opportunity in Bordeaux, and when the market turns upwards again, this should be an interesting segment. That said, there is a question around the potential catalyst for a re-pricing of the region’s wines when that has been slow to happen even amid the positive market environment of 2021 and 2022 – perhaps such a catalyst would be a compelling en primeur campaign, for example.

It is intuitive that the wines to benefit most (at least as first movers) may be more mature, prime vintages such as 1989/1990/1996/2000, where the quality looks most attractive in terms of relative value. These wines have held up in a tricky 2023 market (collectors step in as soon as they cheapen meaningfully), and we would expect them to lead the market up.

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It’s been a relatively subdued year for the fine wine secondary market. Key indices at Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, were down in the first 10 months of 2023. The Liv-ex Fine Wine 1000 index dropped 11.7% in 10 months to 31 October, amid declines across most regional sub-indices, including: Rhône 100 (-18%), Champagne 50 (-15%), Burgundy 150 (-14%), Bordeaux 500 (-9%) and Italy 100 (-6%).

Matthew O’Connell, CEO of the LiveTrade trading platform at Bordeaux Index, said he saw prices down by about 5%-10% year-on-year in general. Mainly, though, it’s just been quiet. ‘Trading activity on the fine wine market has been extremely muted.’

Market headwinds have continued to swirl. ‘With Chinese demand sidelined and higher interest rates weighing on stock holding strategies, both at the merchant and collector level, risk aversion remains pervasive,’ said Justin Gibbs, deputy chairman and exchange director of Liv-ex, in October.

‘Buyers have the upper hand,’ said Liv-ex. Some buyers appear to have tested sellers’ resolve on price. Dom Pérignon 2013 was one of the most traded wines on Liv-ex and LiveTrade year-to-date, but both platforms showed its price has dipped.

The long view

Recent declines have not completely eroded previous gains, particularly for blue-chip Champagne and Burgundy. Some analysis suggests a cyclical rhythm to the market, too.

The Liv-ex 1000 index has broadly grown over two decades, with relatively short eras of decline, showed analysis of the index by Bordeaux Index (see chart below).

Auction buyers waiting for the right moment

Major auction houses have still reported some strong sales this autumn.

Nick Pegna, global head of wine and spirits at Sotheby’s, told Decanter recently: ‘There are a lot of collectors who are waiting on the sidelines looking to pick up things that feel well-priced.’ Super-rare wines still ‘make people sit up and take notice’, he added.

Auction house Zachys said after its September sales in Hong Kong and New York: ‘Global demand for white Burgundy, top Bordeaux and Champagne continue to defy the wider market sentiments.’

Please note that the horizontal axis in the chart below begins at September 2023 (far left) and runs back to September 2004 (right).

The Bordeaux Index view

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com

The wine market has seen particularly depleted activity in 2023, with this stagnation increasing as the year has progressed. Asia is perhaps the most impacted market, but US and UK & Europe are also substantially down in trading terms. This lower activity has really been the defining feature of the year, rather than prices which are softer by around 8%-9%, very much within the range of historical trends.

No wine region has been unduly affected in price terms but at the same time there have been few beneficiaries. Champagne has moved slightly more than other regions but only assessed against the highest trading points from 2022, which had seen 12 months of sharp upwards price movement. Only a couple of niche segments such as grower Champagne have performed positively.

The history of the wine market is one of substantial price rises followed by consolidation with slightly softer prices. What we have seen in 2023 so far fits with this pattern, so unless we see a significant price deterioration from current levels, our base expectation is that prices are likely to stabilise before resuming an upwards trajectory – whether during 2024 or not is, of course, a harder question.

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Ultra-rare bottlings continue to find buyers. A 1.5-litre bottle of Bowmore STAC 55 Year Old single malt Scotch fetched a hammer price of £450,000 (£562,500 with buyer’s premium) at the Sotheby’s-hosted Distillers One of One charity auction in October.

Data from Bordeaux Index suggests long-term price growth for rare whisky has continued in 2023 (see chart below), although Matthew O’Connell, CEO of the merchant’s LiveTrade platform, said momentum has slowed a little.

He added: ‘We see demand for 30 [and] 40-year-old whisky from significant distilleries. This sells out quickly, [and] it’s hard to find on the market.’

Some data offers a more cautious view. A whisky sub-index published by Knight Frank and compiled by consultancy Rare Whisky 101 dropped by 4% in the year to 30 June, notwithstanding stellar 10-year growth.

Andy Simpson, managing director of private client business Simpson Reserved and contributor to Knight Frank’s luxury investment report, said price pressure was most acute at £5,000 per bottle and above.

A dip in prices on some bottlings may offer opportunities, he said. ‘I still believe in the rare whisky market.’ At the very high end, he also noted: ‘Super-expensive bottles are being consumed in quantities like I never saw years and years ago.’

In a report analysing auction sales data, investment bank Noble & Co said it remains cautious on the near-term price outlook for whiskies, citing macroeconomic factors.

‘It’s quite a mixed market,’ said Duncan McFadzean, head of food and drink at Noble & Co. ‘The top end of the market still seems reasonably robust,’ he said. ‘The bottom end of the fine and rare market [£100 to £1,000 per bottle] is doing really well on volumes, but that shift in mix is bringing the average prices down.’

Macallan and Springbank were the top-selling brands at auction by volume and value in the year to 31 July 2023, said Noble & Co. GlenAllachie saw strong growth.

Beyond Scotch, top names to know include Karuizawa, Yamazaki and Pappy Van Winkle.

Casks have gained attention alongside bottles. A new group, the Cask Whisky Association, was recently formed to promote industry best practice and guidance for investors.

The Bordeaux Index view

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com

It is difficult to express fully how much the global whisky market has changed in the last 10-15 years, with top Scotch and Japanese whiskies seeing price gains of five times or more (the 10-year compound annual growth rate is around 20%).

The key driver is an explosion in wealthy collectors and consumers, against the backdrop of a very limited supply of old and rare whisky. Not only did distilleries have no idea of the current demand context 30-40 years ago, the economic and industry situation was difficult and numerous distilleries were closed at that time.

Even compared to wine, whisky is an ultra-long term business – setting aside casks for ageing for 20-50 years, or indeed occasionally even longer. Even though today distilleries have generally increased capacity, minimised selling liquid for blending and taken other steps to increase liquid for ageing, it will take a long time to accrue stocks of aged whisky and this is exacerbated by the demand for younger liquid from global consumers.

We see the future trajectory of the whisky market as likely to remain very positive over the medium term and longer given this deep-rooted supply-demand imbalance.

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Top-tier Burgundy prices have dipped in 2023, after rising strongly in recent years, shows data from UK merchant Bordeaux Index (see chart). At Liv-ex, the Burgundy 150 index fell 11% in eight months to 31 August, but rose 56% over five years.

‘I don’t look at Burgundy and think this is a bubble bursting,’ said Matthew O’Connell, CEO of the LiveTrade trading platform at Bordeaux Index. ‘I think the global wine market is extremely quiet.’ He added: ‘Most owners of Burgundy are not selling at the moment. They either want the wines or see further investment merit.’

He said data points suggested softer prices, down 5%-10%, over the past year, but scarce supplies and rising luxury consumption still represent a long-term tailwind for prices. It’s a situation that may provide opportunities for collectors and investors with the financial means.

In late August, Liv-ex highlighted several trades for blue-chip Burgundy wines on its global marketplace that were below market price.

Charles Antin, head of wine auction sales at US-based Zachys, painted a nuanced picture. He noted price corrections on wines that had recently soared in price, but added: ‘We have been setting world record prices for certain Burgundies as recently as our June and July auctions.’

He highlighted strong pricing on older Domaine Ramonet and the rarest vintages of Domaine de la Romanée Conti (DRC) wines. ‘Burgundy is still at an all-time high, even if certain wines are down 5%-10% [from] their peak. Some are still up 50% in the last two years,’ said Antin, ahead of two key September auctions.

In early September, Sotheby’s reported its second highest sales total for a wine auction in the US. The ‘Monumental Cellar’ auction achieved sales of $9.3m (£7.5m). Top lots included five magnums of DRC Romanée-Conti 1999, which fetched $275,000 (£220,000; pre-sale estimate: $260,000-$350,000). A rare lot of five bottles of DRC, Romanée-Conti 1966 sold for $93,750 (pre-sale estimate: $45,000-$65,000).

The Bordeaux Index view

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com

Burgundy prices are always the topic of much discussion in the fine wine market – does anyone drink the top wines? Is the pricing a ‘bubble’? Is a crash due? The answers to these questions in our view as one of the most active traders in the market are, in simplest terms: Yes, No, No. But they do give rise to some key observations on this interesting market segment.

The amount of top Burgundy consumed is far greater than people think, while availability dwindles. The basis supply-demand factors – tiny quantities and constantly increasing numbers of top collectors entering this exclusive segment – are the driver of prices, rather than Burgundy being the subject of investment speculation; the latter may have relevance, but its significance is easy to overstate.

In 2017-2018 prices rocketed and many commentators spoke of a price bubble, yet in 2021-2022, prices jumped much further again. In reality, the likelihood of a substantial reversal in pricing is low given the underlying fundamentals expressed above. Prices are a little softer in 2023, but broadly we see this as entirely normal post large increases. Our expectation is that, as market activity increases, a trend to higher prices will return.

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Auction houses have been upbeat on recent buyer demand for top California wines, but the global market picture for this US region looks mixed in 2023.

Marc Smoler, senior vice president at US auction house Hart Davis Hart, told Decanter: ‘We continue to see consistent performance from top California wines at auction.

‘The strongest demand is for mature vintages and large formats. Marcassin (especially the Chardonnay), Diamond Creek, Phelps and Heitz have been particularly robust.’

He said top lots from HDH’s July fine and rare wines auction included Dominus 1991 (one six-litre imperial) selling for US$5,019 (pre-sale estimate: $2,600-$3,800) and Ridge Vineyards, Eisele Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 1971 (one 75cl bottle) selling for $4,182.50 (estimate: $2,200-$3,500).

Auctioneer Zachys said in its mid-year review that Californian Kongsgaard and Promontory ‘have been seeing hammer [prices] 30% or higher over their low estimates’.

However, Matthew O’Connell, CEO of the LiveTrade trading platform at UK-based merchant Bordeaux Index, reported a significant drop-off in trading activity on California wines that predates a quieter fine wine market in general in 2023.

Despite that, Bordeaux Index is ‘trading more [California wine] than we were 10 years ago’, he said. Its data shows strong price gains on some individual wines in recent years as well (see chart).

At Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, the California 50 index – tracking Screaming Eagle, Opus One, Harlan Estate, Ridge Monte Bello and Dominus – fell 11% in 12 months to 31 July, but it was up by 15% in five years.

‘A bit like lots of regions, it’s had this broad increase between mid-2020 and peaking [in late 2022], but then it’s seen this drop-off in pricing,’ said Robbie Stevens, senior broker and territory manager for the Americas at Liv-ex.

He said US wines broadly tripled their share of trades by value on Liv-ex from 2019 to 2022, with more brands also being traded.

Looking ahead, O’Connell added ‘there is probably further to go’ on price growth for Dominus and Ridge, given their high quality.

The Bordeaux Index view

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com

The US and especially California has for a long time been a key part of the investible wine market. However, secondary market activity has materially decreased in the last few years to the point where the region remains significant but not at the core of the marketplace.

The last market change of particular note was the sharp upwards price correction – probably overdue – in Ridge and Dominus, but this was across 2018-2020. Trading activity in the cult Napa wines – whether Screaming Eagle, Colgin, Harlan or Hundred Acre – has waxed and waned, but it is fair to say that it has not increased in the way one might have expected five years ago.

New release prices are a relevant dynamic – they are very much progressive year on year, but not reliably following or indeed followed by the secondary market: something which can lead to some uncertainty for buyers.

It is of course widely recognised that regions such as Oregon are continually gaining significance in quality and global recognition. But these wines are for the most part not investible, remaining of interest mainly to collectors.

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