WineCap: Signs of improvement for fine wine market

By Hamish Graham

Published: 11 December, 2025

Wine investment platform WineCap has unveiled its year end review of the fine wine market, detailing signs of hope for the sector which has faced significant challenges in recent years. Prices and liquidity improved across H2 with some regions performing particularly well.

During Q3 of this year, the fine wine market started to stabilise as global economic sentiment improved. WineCap believes that this indicated a potential reversal following “two years of decline”. It was further bolstered by the anticipation of steady cuts to interest rates – an important development for alternative assets like fine wine. This quarter built on a Q2 2025 during which signs of gradual improvement began to appear.

The report also revealed that 95% of wealth managers in the UK and US believed that fine wine would “remain a top-performing collectible” even amid headwinds both geopolitical and economic.

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The regions leading the way in this tentative improvement during H2 included Champagne, Tuscany, California and parts of Bordeaux. Champagne was the first region to point to a small upturn, having its first month on month gain in a year this June. Leading Grand Marques such as Dom Perignon and Krug had been flatlining for a least six months prior to this, the change a “welcome phase of consolidation”, as WineCap put it.

Tuscany saw improvements too with investors looking to Brunello di Montalcino and Super Tuscans. California cult wines such as Screaming Eagle saw rising interest globally too.

Bordeaux’s well-reported subdued 2024 En Primeur campaign was noted in the report; sales were chiefly driven by discounting as opposed to the strength of the brands and the vintage – the latter seen as an uneven year for the famed region. Estates’ approach to price cuts saw rare-value opportunities for top First Growths including the likes of Lafite Rothschild.

The strongest performing wines from 2025 according to WineCap were largely from the Rhône – the region representing 50% of the top movers. This was followed by Burgundy (30%), Tuscany (10%) and Sauternes (10%). Top performance is calculated by comparing the price per case in January 2025 to the same metric for November 2025.

Château Rayas 2011 topped the list, with the Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine rising 66.7% over the period (£7,800 to £13,000 per case). WineCap detailed there was significant price volatility in terms of the estate’s wines following the passing of Emmaneul Reynaud in November of this year.

Other performances of note included Domaine de la Romanee-Conti La Tache 2018 which was the standout from Burgundy, rising almost 37% in price per case. Tuscany’s Soldera Casse Basse 2013 rose around 36% and continues a strong long-term performance trajectory.

The report concludes that the recovery seen will remain uneven with some regions and vintages still yet to find their floor and price stabilise. WineCap details, however, that “underlying indicators suggest that the foundations for 2026 are firmer than at any point since the correction began”.

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