Liv-ex finds Bordeaux labels posted the steadiest gains in a still uneven fine wine market

Liv-ex, the London-based fine wine exchange, said its latest review of trading over the past year found a group of wines posting steady price gains even as the broader fine wine market remains uneven. The analysis points to renewed demand for several Bordeaux labels and a handful of Champagnes, especially non-vintage bottlings, at a time when many other wines are still under pressure.

The report is based on transaction data from the Liv-ex exchange rather than asking prices. The company said it defined an upward trend as three or four quarter-on-quarter increases in average trade price during the past year. That approach, it said, was meant to identify wines where buyers were consistently returning to the market, not just reacting to isolated offers or thin trading.

Bordeaux produced more of the strongest performers than any other region in the study, a result Liv-ex linked to the category’s depth and liquidity in the secondary market. Among the clearest examples was Château Mouton Rothschild, with five vintages making the list: 2005, 2008, 2010, 2015 and 2018. Liv-ex said Mouton Rothschild 2015 traded close to its 2020 price levels after most of its upward move took place in late 2025.

Château Lafite Rothschild 2015 also stood out. Liv-ex said the wine is now trading around its 2020 levels, but unlike Mouton 2015 it continues to show what the exchange described as consistent upward momentum. The company added that Lafite 2015 has a tight trading spread, a sign that buyers and sellers are closer in their expectations and that prices may continue to firm if demand holds.

Other Bordeaux wines cited in the analysis included Lafite 2021, Lafite 2019 and Lynch-Bages 2018. According to Liv-ex, all three fell between the second and third quarters of 2025 before rising in each quarter since then. In a market where confidence has been fragile, that pattern matters because Bordeaux remains one of the most actively traded categories in fine wine. Price gains in heavily traded wines tend to carry more weight than moves in less liquid segments because they reflect repeated transactions rather than one-off deals.

Champagne also featured prominently in the findings. Liv-ex said the region’s relative liquidity allowed more labels to qualify for review and noted that its Champagne 50 index appears to have found support along its longer-term upward trendline. Within that category, some of the strongest gains came from non-vintage wines.

Pol Roger Reserve Brut rose from an average trade price of £284 in the second quarter of 2025 to £294 in the second quarter of 2026, an increase of about 3.5%. Jacques Selosse Initial climbed from £3,264 to £3,569 over the same period, up roughly 9.3%. Liv-ex said those gains are notable because Champagne has faced pressure during the wider correction in fine wine prices. Signs of support in benchmark labels and sustained strength in selected non-vintage bottles may indicate that buyers see current levels as attractive.

Sophia Gilmour, a market analyst at Liv-ex, said the market is still split between wines that continue to weaken and others that appear to have stabilized. “Some likely have further yet to fall; others appear to have found their floors and are now tracking gently upwards,” she said. “For buyers looking for safer moments to capitalise on the current market, wines that have shown evidence of reaching their floors may be the right place to start.”

The report comes as merchants and collectors continue to look for signals that the fine wine market is moving out of its recent downturn. Liv-ex did not argue that a broad recovery is underway. Instead, its analysis suggests that demand is returning selectively, with buyers concentrating on labels that combine brand strength, active trading and prices that have already corrected from earlier highs.

That distinction is important for a trade that often relies on limited public sales data outside specialist exchanges and auction houses. Advertised prices can rise without leading to completed transactions, while actual exchange trades provide a clearer picture of where money is being committed. By focusing only on realized sales on its platform, Liv-ex is trying to separate sentiment from execution.

For merchants, especially those deciding where to deploy capital in a cautious market, this kind of data can shape buying strategy. Wines showing repeated quarter-by-quarter gains may offer more confidence than categories still drifting lower or moving sideways with little volume behind them. In practical terms, Bordeaux’s scale gives it an advantage because there are enough trades to make trends easier to read. Champagne’s appearance in the analysis suggests that buyers are also willing to move beyond classic investment-grade Bordeaux when they believe value has returned.

Liv-ex was founded in 2000 and operates as a global marketplace for the fine wine trade. The company says it connects more than 550 businesses across 42 countries through its platform and provides pricing data and market analysis from offices in Britain, France and Belgium. Its latest findings do not suggest that all parts of fine wine are recovering at once, but they do show where buyer conviction has started to reappear in recent months.