To gain insight into the current state of the rare wine market and its prevailing trends, we spoke to iDealwine, in Paris.
Angélique, could you tell us what the main trends among fine wine collectors were in 2025?
Like many other sectors, the wine industry has been strongly affected by a fraught geo-political climate and financial uncertainty, which has led both investors and consumers to adopt very cautious spending behaviour.
Despite this, we – like other players in the sector – were pleasantly surprised at the end of the year by a very busy month of December. The world did not end after all, and it seems that people allowed themselves to indulge a little, choosing fine wine to close the year. That resulted in a December boost was, for us, a true Christmas gift.
At iDealwine, we closed the year with total turnover of €58m, which includes €12m from our fixed-price, online wine merchant side of business (Figures subject to confirmation, as they have not yet been audited, editor’s note).
As for auction market trends, in 2025 we observed a 9% decline in the average price per bottle, but a 19% increase in the volume of wine sold.
This suggests that buyers paid very close attention to wine prices: there were fewer intense bidding wars, less determination to secure that wine at any price, which had sometimes been the case in previous years, particularly in 2022. That was the year when the market peaked, when wine was viewed as an alternative investment and the most iconic bottles seemed immune to any loss in value, consistently achieving very high prices.
2025 was the year of price sensitivity. Auction bidders continue to favour Burgundy, Bordeaux, the Rhône Valley and Champagne, as well as wines originating from boutique production and very small holdings. In recent years however, wine connoisseurs have broadened their horizons beyond the traditional fine wine regions. Many delight in discovering wine producers before they achieve widespread recognition and subsequent soaring prices, before taking great pride in introducing their ‘finds’ to like-minded friends. This has resulted in some under-the-radar regions post very significant growth in traded volumes.
For 2025, what is your assessment of historically prized regions such as Bordeaux, Burgundy or Champagne?
The classic trio of Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Rhône Valley continues to enjoy strong momentum in collectors’ cellars.
In 2025, Bordeaux remained the leading wine-producing region represented at wine auctions. One in three bottles sold on iDealwine was a Bordeaux Grand Cru (34%, representing more than 105,000 bottles scaled to a standard 75cl).
Burgundy ranked second, with an impressive volume of 82,000 bottles sold at auction in 2025, accounting for 27% of the total. The Rhône Valley completes this classic trio with 11% of volume sold, meaning that together these three regions account for 72% of all auction sales.
There was a slight increase in the volume of Champagne sold at auction (+4%), but most noticeably, a very strong rise in the total value of bubbles sold: +21%. The average price of Champagne sold at auction in 2025 reached €201, making it the second-highest average price (for a region) after Burgundy (€212). This can be distilled into a 16% increase in the average price for Champagne.
This is a very positive signal for the region, indicating not only that Champagne is highly coveted by fine wine lovers worldwide, but even more so in 2025.
Which lesser-known wine regions and appellations should collectors keep an eye on at auction?
More and more wine is sold on the secondary market (+19% in one year at iDealwine), with several regions outperforming this market average. Such is the case for the Loire Valley, with sales up 20% (18,000 bottles), Beaujolais (+48%, 4,500 bottles), and Corsica (1,350 bottles). These developments, although affecting regions with smaller overall volumes, clearly point to a trend and indicate a direction that enthusiasts would do well to follow.
French wines continue to exert a unique power of attraction on collectors worldwide (iDealwine has buyers in more than 60 countries). Italian wines make up 50% of all non-French wine sold at auction on iDealwine (thought non-French wine account for 6.5% of auction volume currently). What’s particularly interesting with Italian wine is that demand has completely bounced back from previous years and then increased by a third! A total of 10,000 bottles were sold at auction on iDealwine. Italian fine wine ranks sixth in demand at auction, though is not split into sub regions. There is growing interest and excitement for fine Italian wines, which can really be seen in terms of sales generated, which increased by 37%. This was accompanied by a 2% rise in the average price, which now stands at €96. In a market where the average price overall declined by around 8%, this performance clearly demonstrates the strong and growing appeal of Italian wine for serious collectors.
Fine wine from Spain, the United States and Germany also featured exciting options for collectors. A deep dive into the performance of these wines is reserved for iDealwine’s annual Barometer report, which will be published in the coming months.
iDealwine once again hosted the prestigious Hospices de Nuits-Saint-Georges charity auction: what are your other plans for 2026?
Our plan for 2026 is to build on everything we achieved last year. Hosting the Hospices de Nuits-Saint-Georges wine auction is not only a worthy cause but a joyful return to the vineyard for us, in this case, the beating heart of Burgundy. We will continue to raise awareness for the auction, attract new buyers, build loyalty among existing clients, and strengthen our ties with local wine merchants.
Our greatest challenge this year will be the United States. In 2025, we opened our US office in a context that was far from favourable, yet the decision proved highly relevant and we are very pleased with the results. That said, our ambitions are much greater: we aim to go further and achieve significantly stronger growth in this market.
Our next launch will be the Spanish-language version of our website, our fifth language. We will roll out the red carpet for our growing number of Spanish clients; Spain holds great potential for us. And if the EU-Mercosur trade deal, which would be extremely favourable for French wine exports, is ultimately ratified, our next step would be into South American markets. Watch this space!
About iDealwine
Founded in 2000, iDealwine is the global online leader in fine wine auctions and France’s no.1 wine auctioneer. With its headquarters in Paris, and offices in Bordeaux, Beaune, New York, Hong Kong, and Singapore, iDealwine is trusted by 650,000 wine lovers in 65+ countries for buying and selling wine. In addition to the rare wines for sale at auction, iDealwine also offers a vast selection available at fixed price, as an online wine merchant. This selection is continuously growing, with wines sourced directly from a network of over 1,000 partner domains and a range of older vintages bought from private cellars. iDealwine has also established a reputation for excellence in wine market analysis, through its annual Barometer publication. The data, drawn from 300,000 auctioned bottles, allows iDealwine to identify trends almost as they happen. The Barometer is an exhaustive guide to the most sought-after wines, top bids, and fine wine trends, a must have for wine lovers, investors, and collectors. This year’s edition will be published in spring 2026.
