Wine investment: Signs of revival in the Champagne market?
Prestige Champagne prices have shown signs of regaining their footing on the secondary market, but it’s early days – and there are mixed reports about consumer interest in new releases.
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.
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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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Chris Mercer is a Bristol-based freelance editor and journalist who spent nearly four years as digital editor of Decanter.com, having previously been Decanter’s news editor across online and print.
He has written about, and reported on, the wine and food sectors for more than 10 years for both consumer and trade media.
Chris first became interested in the wine world while living in Languedoc-Roussillon after completing a journalism Masters in the UK. These days, his love of wine commonly tests his budgeting skills.
Beyond wine, Chris also has an MSc in food policy and has a particular interest in sustainability issues. He has also been a food judge at the UK’s Great Taste Awards.