European buyers steadied fine wine prices after U.S. retreat

European buyers increased their role in the fine wine market after U.S. buyers pulled back in early to mid-2025, helping steady prices after a sharp decline, according to an analysis released Thursday by Liv-ex, the London-based fine wine exchange.

The report says the retreat by U.S. buyers followed tariff threats from President Donald Trump, which reduced a source of demand that had supported higher trading levels. Liv-ex said American buyers had previously been willing to pay more while still preserving margins, creating stronger competition and helping keep prices elevated. When that buying faded, prices fell quickly.

In that gap, European buyers expanded both their market share and the amount they spent in nominal terms, Liv-ex said. The exchange said spending rose significantly compared with the first half of 2024, as buyers in Europe appeared to respond to lower prices and new openings in the market. The report added that currency movements did not appear to play a major role in the shift.

Sophia Gilmour, a market analyst at Liv-ex, said Europe has become the market’s main source of support since the U.S. retreat, but she also pointed to a constraint on a stronger rebound.

“European buyers have become the market’s key source of support following the U.S. retreat, but Europe is also the market’s largest source of supply — a stock overhang that will need to be dispersed before a more pronounced recovery can take place,” Gilmour said in the report. She added that U.S. buyers are slowly returning to the market, which could improve price stability by absorbing surplus European wine and increasing competition among buyers.

The analysis points to a change inside Europe as well. Buyers in what Liv-ex describes as Central Europe, including Switzerland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany and the Czech Republic, have taken a much larger share of purchasing activity over the past three years. According to the report, their share of European purchases by value rose from 10% in 2023 to 35% today. Over the same period, France’s share fell from 75% to 55%.

Liv-ex said part of that shift reflects a broader and more diversified membership base on its platform. Even so, it said the increase in participation from Central European buyers in the international secondary market has been notable.

The exchange’s data also suggests European buyers are paying prices that are relatively competitive compared with other regions. Liv-ex said U.S. buyers remain the most aggressive participants, consistently buying closest to what it calls the “market price.” European Union buyers, it said, rank just behind them and regularly purchase at levels closer to market price than the overall average.

That behavior has mattered in the current environment, according to the report. Liv-ex said European buyers have been able to bid at higher levels than buyers in the United Kingdom and Asia, particularly when U.S. demand has been absent. That has helped support the market’s recent sideways trading pattern, even if it has not yet produced a broad recovery.

At the same time, the report says Europe continues to weigh on the market from the supply side. European sellers account for about half of the value of wine sold on the exchange, according to Liv-ex, and they tend to sell at prices significantly below the market average. That dynamic, the exchange said, has put downward pressure on prices overall, even as European demand has increased.

The result is a market in which the same region is playing two opposing roles. Europe is providing much of the buying support that emerged after the U.S. stepped back, but it is also the largest source of inventory coming to market. Liv-ex described that inventory as an overhang that will need to be worked through before any stronger price recovery can take hold.

The report does not present the market rebound as complete or secure. Instead, it describes a period of stabilization after a steep adjustment that began when U.S. buyers reduced activity in 2025. The exchange said hopes for continued price stability, and possibly some upward movement, have improved as U.S. buyers slowly return and as European demand remains active.

The findings come from Liv-ex’s analysis of trading activity on its exchange, which serves wine professionals with pricing data and a marketplace for buying and selling fine wine. The company said the latest trend reflects how quickly regional demand can reshape pricing and liquidity in a market that depends heavily on cross-border trade and buyer competition.