Wine investment: Top level Burgundy offers value in downbeat market
Lower prices for blue-chip Burgundy wines have continued to inspire buyers to seek opportunities in 2025, within a subdued market.
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.
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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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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.