Wine investment: A rising market for mature Bordeaux

Bordeaux’s talent for consistently producing good volumes of long-lived fine wines is no secret, and brings significant liquidity to the market.

In the still-challenging market environment of 2026, older wines from leading Bordeaux châteaux have constituted one of the more interesting areas.

Geraint Carter, of international merchant Bordeaux Index and the LiveTrade online trading platform, said prices fell 20% or more in the recent market downturn, and wines are being consumed.

‘There is some evidence of stretched liquidity beginning to emerge now. With the caveat that you’ve got to be buying it at the right price, it looks one of the safest bits of the market.’

There is no expectation of prices shooting upwards in the near-term, but prices have looked firmer this year, as illustrated by data on 1996- and 2000-vintage wines (see table, below).

Fine wine prices in general were at 10-year lows in ‘real terms’, said the Liv-ex fine wine exchange, a source of market data and insight, in its September report. It pinpointed mature Bordeaux wines that are entering, or within, their drinking windows as a potential opportunity.

‘[The price of] Lafite 2000 has fallen below 2008 levels – it is the cheapest time to buy in 18 years,’ said Liv-ex, adding prices for Châteaux Latour, Haut-Brion and Margaux 2000 were ‘at or around’ lows seen in 2015.

Liv-ex also noted a tighter supplyand-demand situation. The bid-to-offer ratio on its global marketplace for Bordeaux first growths from the 2000 to 2005 vintages inclusive surpassed ‘2’ in summer 2026, versus a ratio of 0.7 for post-2020 vintages.

On the auction scene, Tim Triptree MW, international director of wines and spirits at Christie’s, reported ongoing high interest in mature Bordeaux this year.

‘There was a post-pandemic softening of prices, which primarily affected younger Bordeaux vintages, whereas mature back-vintages have proved to be remarkably resilient.’

He added: ‘We are also seeing a growing demographic of younger wine drinkers at auction, who are particularly interested in mature Bordeaux that is ready to drink.’

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

Draining the pool

It’s a peculiar thing to observe in a market as frequently lamented as Bordeaux, but perhaps its most interesting segment is being driven by a story of consumption.

Over the past six to 12 months, availability of mature vintages of Bordeaux has tightened markedly as steady consumption has taken effect.

There’s nothing specific to point to, just decades of dinners and sales draining a finite pool. First growths from 1982 and 1986, plentiful a decade ago, now only surface sporadically, rarely in more than a case or two.

The same is happening to the likes of 1996 and 2000, as well as ‘off-vintages’ such as 1999 and 2001, once exported heavily to Asia.

This kind of scarcity never announces itself. It builds slowly until a wine everyone assumed was abundantly available turns out not to be.

Young claret tells the opposite story, with softness running across many recent vintages already in bottle.

Understandably, buyers seem in no hurry to own 2017s, ’21s or even well-reviewed ’19s and ’22s. In a world of perpetual uncertainty, young Bordeaux, whatever its quality, appears to be carrying some of this cost.

There is, oddly, little dispute that these contemporary iterations are among the finest vintages Bordeaux has produced. What is rather less certain is how quickly the market will come to reflect that.

In the meantime, there is always the increasingly attractive option of drinking the good mature stuff.

Coming up

Burgundy ‘spotlight’

UK retailer The Wine Society has said it will launch a Burgundy ‘fine wine spotlight’ from 19 October, set to include wines from rising-star appellations and lesser-known producers alongside opportunities to buy wines from some of the region’s most celebrated sites and highly regarded domaines.

Guigal to Grange

Christie’s said its New York auction on 23 October will offer ‘the distinguished cellar of an American connoisseur’, including 15 Penfolds Grange vintages back to 1966 and, from Côte-Rôtie, ‘one of the most comprehensive collections of Guigal’s La Las to appear at auction’ – plus Bordeaux legends, such as Château Latour 1961.

Liber Pater ex-cellar sale

A Bonhams auction in Hong Kong on 21 November will focus on Liber Pater, the rare Bordeaux wine that showcases ungrafted, ‘franc de pied’ vines. ‘For the first time, we are opening our private cellar for a direct release to celebrate our 20th anniversary,’ said Loïc Pasquet, Liber Pater winemaker and founder.

Naples Winter Wine Festival

World-leading sommeliers, chefs and top wineries will again take part in the annual philanthropyfocused Naples Winter Wine Festival in Florida, to be held from 29-31 January 2027, organisers have announced. Tickets start at $17,500 per couple, for a ‘double magnum’ package. See napleswinefestival.com for details.

PLEASE NOTE: Release schedules are subject to change

Muted reaction to La Place releases

A flurry of releases in September has included the latest round of international fine wines offered via La Place de Bordeaux, featuring 2023-vintage Opus One, Masseto and Solaia – among others.

UK merchants offered Opus One 2023, from a five-star Napa Valley vintage, at £1,410 (6x75cl: Bordeaux Index, Justerini & Brooks, Vinum Fine Wines) in bond (ib).

That’s below current prices on several lower-rated back vintages, said the Liv-ex exchange for fine wine, market data and insight, which also said Super Tuscan Masseto 2023 debuted as ‘the least expensive vintage on the market’ – at £5,560 (12x75cl ib).

Despite high quality, merchant feedback was mixed. Geraint Carter, of Bordeaux Index and the LiveTrade online trading platform, said overall interest in the latest ‘La Place’ campaign was subdued.

Giles Burke-Gaffney, fine wine director at Justerini & Brooks, said: ‘There is still interest in drinking vintages of these wines and labels more generally, but the reception to these new releases, specifically, has been lukewarm.’

Miles Davis, of Vinum Fine Wines, said Opus One and Masseto sold well internationally, but less well in the UK. He said the Penfolds, Grange 2022 (100pts, Decanter) had seen the strongest interest so far.

Also in September, Bordeaux’s Château Palmer re-released its Margaux grand vin from the lauded 2016 vintage, 10 years after harvest, with Liv-ex quoting a UK offer price of £3,168 (12x75cl ib).

In Champagne, meanwhile, Dom Pérignon released its 2018 vintage – offered by several UK merchants at £798 (6x75cl ib).

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