Wine is the subject. Vintage is the dimension of time.
Collecting
Cellaring, provenance, mature bottles, storage and auctions. For people building and maintaining serious collections.
The 165th Hospices de Beaune auction, held 16 November 2025 by Sotheby's, reached 18,754,670 euros at the hammer, the third-highest total in its 165-year history. The Presidents' Barrel, a Pommard Premier Cru Les Rugiens, made 400,000 euros.
Symington, Taylor Fladgate, Fonseca, Croft, Ferreira and Sandeman have all declared 2024, the first classic declaration since 2017. It is the broadest declaration in nearly a decade, and it is deliberately scarce.
Liv-ex's first-half data shows the benchmark index inching into positive territory for the first time in years, with Italy leading, old bottles outperforming, and critics' darlings oddly lagging. The recovery rewards selectivity, not mere exposure.
Five auctions in New York delivered 97 percent sold and 62 percent of lots beating their high estimates, a week of records that suggests the top end of the fine-wine market has found its momentum again.
The first auction devoted entirely to Chateau Haut-Brion, marking ninety years of Dillon family stewardship, raised EUR 3.4 million and set twelve world auction records, from a 1935 magnum to a jeroboam of the 1989.
The forty-second Cape Winemakers Guild Auction raised R18.22 million in Cape Town, and for the first time in its history white wines averaged more per bottle than reds.
At Singapore Wine Week's Grand Cellar Auction on 4 October, one 750ml bottle of Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1945 sold for S$80,000 before buyer's premium. The next lot, another bottle of the same wine, sold for S$100,000.
