The wine market is in flux. After years of rising prices, fueled by low interest rates, global demand, and a pandemic-era rush into collectible assets, previously coveted bottles can now be bought at auction for a snip compared with just a few years ago. The speculative boom has faded, estimates have become more realistic, and collectors who once competed aggressively for rare Burgundy and Bordeaux wines are taking their time. It’s a buyers’ market. Sound familiar?
Amid the post-pandemic mania for luxury collectibles, Sotheby’s wine and spirits department achieved a record $132 million in sales in 2021. Christie’s similarly posted its best results ever for wine and spirits sales. (Phillips doesn’t sell wine.) The current demand for wine, though, is behaving a lot like today’s appetite for art. Buyers are still chasing exceptional lots—like the fresh-to-market masterpieces from the S.I. Newhouse Collection that carried the May marquee sales—but they are far less interested in everything else. Sotheby’s sale of Joe Lewis’s collection in London last month showed the power of a great story and impeccable ownership history. Fine wine is seeing the same divide, as trophy bottles and standout cellars continue to attract competition, while the broader market resets.
