Sotheby’s Wine & Spirits sales grow by 12%

By Oliver Catchpole

Published: 03 February, 2026

Sotheby’s annual sales in the Wine & Spirits category for 2025 totalled $127.5m – a rise of almost 12% on last year – the fourth-highest annual total since the department was founded in 1970.

Higher sales totals were only recorded in 2023 ($159m), 2022 ($150m) and 2021 ($132m).

Overall, the past decade has seen growth for Wine & Spirits at the auction house, with total sales more than doubling from $47m in 2015.

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The overwhelming majority of sales this year were in wine – $106m, with spirits making up the other $21.5m.

However, interest in both wine and spirits has grown, with bidders from 63 countries participating – a record for Sotheby’s – and 35% of buyers new to the auction house.

Globally, Europe was the strongest region for the auction house (with sales of $56.6m), driven by strong results from the UK ($21.3m) and France ($35.4m).

Meanwhile, the US saw sales of $37.3m, and Asia $33.5m, with Sotheby’s top selling location – New York – outperforming Hong Kong for the second year in a row, achieving its second-highest total sales to date.

Nick Pegna, global head of Sotheby’s Wine & Spirits, commented: “Our 2025 results underscore the strength and momentum of Sotheby’s Wine & Spirits business.

“Achieving $127.5 million in sales across auctions and private transactions reflects not only the resilience of the fine wine and spirits market, but also the continued confidence collectors place in Sotheby’s to steward the world’s most important cellars and collections.

“This success has been driven by a truly international buyer base, strong growth in new collectors, and our depth of expertise in presenting landmark single-owner collections.”

The auction house added that “the most valuable wine lot of 2025” and “the most valuable bottle of spirits sold globally” in 2025 were both sold at Sotheby’s.

Some of the most expensive lots sold this year include The Glenlivet SPIRA 60 Year Old 1965 ($864,825), Antinori Napa Valley & Stag's Leap Wine Cellars | From Napa Valley to Tuscany: A Journey Through Storied Wine Regions ($550,000) and The Glen Grant Eternal 77 Year Old 1948 ($532,200).

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