2026-07-10
Liv-ex, the London-based fine wine exchange, said this week that a small group of wines has posted steady price gains over the past year, even as the broader secondary market for fine wine remains under pressure and recovery stays uneven.
The analysis, based only on transaction data recorded on the Liv-ex platform, looked for wines that showed three or four consecutive quarter-on-quarter increases in average trade price over the past 12 months. The goal, according to the exchange, was to identify wines where buyer demand appears to be returning in a sustained way rather than through isolated trades or higher asking prices that are not backed by completed sales.
The findings point first to Bordeaux, still the deepest and most liquid part of the fine wine market. Liv-ex said Bordeaux accounted for more of the strongest performers than any other region, helped by its high trading volume and broad participation from merchants. Among the clearest examples was Château Mouton Rothschild, which placed five vintages on the list: 2005, 2008, 2010, 2015 and 2018.
Mouton Rothschild 2015 stood out for its steady rise over the period studied. Liv-ex said most of that move took place in late 2025 and that the wine is now trading close to its 2020 levels. In practical terms, that suggests buyers have been willing to return at prices that had previously marked a floor during an earlier downturn.
Château Lafite Rothschild also featured prominently. Liv-ex highlighted Lafite 2015 as a wine with more persistent upward momentum than some of its peers. While it too is trading around its 2020 levels, the exchange said there is less evidence that prices have stalled. It pointed instead to a tight bid-offer spread and repeated quarterly gains as signs that confidence may still be building around that label.
Other Bordeaux wines cited in the report included Lafite 2021, Lafite 2019 and Lynch-Bages 2018. Liv-ex said all three fell between the second and third quarters of 2025 before rising in each quarter since then. Even Lynch-Bages 2018, which only narrowly met the screen used in the study, showed what the exchange described as a visible change in direction.
That matters because price moves in Bordeaux tend to carry more weight than similar moves in thinner parts of the market. With more frequent trading and larger volumes, gains are less likely to reflect one-off deals. Instead, they can indicate broader agreement among buyers and sellers about value.
Champagne was the other major region singled out in the analysis. Liv-ex said Champagne’s relative liquidity allowed more wines from the region to qualify for review and noted signs that the Champagne 50 index may have found support after a period of weakness. The exchange said this could make Champagne one of the regions to watch if recovery continues.
Within Champagne, some of the strongest upward trends came from non-vintage wines rather than prestige cuvées or older vintages. Liv-ex pointed specifically to Pol Roger Reserve Brut and Jacques Selosse Initial. According to figures shared by the exchange, 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. Jacques Selosse Initial increased from £3,264 to £3,569 over the same period.
Those gains are notable because Champagne has been one of the categories hit by the wider correction in fine wine prices. Signs of renewed support in non-vintage labels may suggest that some buyers now see value at current levels, especially in wines with strong brand recognition and regular market turnover.
Sophia Gilmour, a market analyst at Liv-ex, said the data shows a market that is still selective rather than broadly rising. “Some likely have further yet to fall; others appear to have found their floors and are now tracking gently upwards,” she said in comments released with the report. “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 does not argue that a full rebound is underway across fine wine. Instead, it suggests that merchants and investors are beginning to return to specific labels where pricing looks stable and liquidity remains strong. That distinction is important in a market where headline sentiment can obscure sharp differences between regions, producers and vintages.
Liv-ex said many wines are now trading above their lows from 2025, but warned that this alone does not amount to a reliable trend. Asking prices posted online can rise without resulting in actual sales. For that reason, the exchange limited its review to completed trades on its own platform, which connects more than 550 businesses across 42 countries.
Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Britain, with operations in France and Belgium, Liv-ex has become one of the main sources of pricing data for the global fine wine trade. Its latest analysis suggests that while caution still defines much of the market, buyer conviction is beginning to reappear in selected parts of Bordeaux and Champagne where prices seem to have stabilized and trading remains active.