Fine wine prices slide for third year in a row as tariffs and stocks sap demand

Fine wine prices slid for the third straight year as Trump-era tariffs chilled US demand and investors chased hotter returns in stocks and gold.

Wine prices fell 2.8% this year through the end of November, according to Liv-ex’s Fine Wine 100 index.

Bordeaux was down 6.6%, Burgundy down 4.4%, and vintage Champagne down 4.3%, the data cited by the Financial Times showed.

Recent Bordeaux releases have been among the weak spots, the FT reported, pointing to the 2021 vintage — viewed by critics as “decent but unspectacular.”

Château Mouton Rothschild 2021 was down 5.2% this year to around $4,471.20 for a case of 12 bottles. Château Haut Brion fell 11.4% to $3,645 per case, the report said.

Château Ausone’s 2021 vintage fell 34% to $4,193.10, the Financial Times reported.

“It’s been brutal,” Justin Gibbs, deputy chair and exchange director at Liv-ex, told the outlet.

“In previous [market] declines there have been bright spots. But in this particular bear market, it’s been everything.”

The pullback has dragged fine wine prices back to roughly where they stood at the end of 2020, erasing most of the pandemic-era surge that peaked in late 2022.

The slump has coincided with a booming stock market as technology shares and gold have drawn investors away from alternative bets such as wine.

President Donald Trump’s tariffs on imports have also proved to be a major headwind.

His 15% levy on EU imports hit the market hard, with the value of fine wine purchases by American buyers down about 44% this year, according to Liv-ex.

Bordeaux’s spring “en primeur” campaigns — when new wines are scored by critics and sold before bottling — have fallen flat, the FT reported, describing the futures market as a bellwether for demand.

The market is still dealing with a stock overhang after producers priced new releases too aggressively in recent years, according to the FT.

As those wines later fell in the secondary market, buyers pulled back while wholesalers and merchants sat on inventory they still want to move, the report said.

Still, the FT report cited prices “ticking up” over the three months through the end of November, suggesting the market’s slide may be slowing.

Merchants in Hong Kong and Singapore told the outlet they are seeing tentative signs of recovery in Asian demand after the region was hit by a slowdown in the Chinese economy.

“I can see more customers taking advantage of [depressed] fine wine prices,” Paulo Pong, founder of Altaya Wines in Hong Kong, was quoted as saying.

“I would attribute that to the rebound of the Hong Kong stock exchange. There’s a bit more discretionary income from the finance and legal professionals.”