Top Wine Cellars are appreciating at the best rate in five years
VANCOUVER, Wash., March 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — First Growth Technologies, Inc, publisher of the gold standard for rare wine values, The Wine Market Journal, today announced that the rare wine market that has been in “bull” mode since the beginning of 2025 is demonstrating accelerating appreciation across almost all categories, based on rare wine auction results in the United States.
“The broad escalation across almost all our rare wine indices that began in early 2025 accelerated through the fall and has risen even faster thus far in 2026,” said Peter Gibson, editor, Wine Market Journal. “Not since the rapid rise of the market in 2020 and 2021 have we seen overall values appreciate like this. While a correction occurred from spring 2022 through the end of 2024, the return to a ‘bull’ market became clear in early 2025. We are seeing values of most categories of the broad rare wine market grow at an ever-quickening pace.”
“Top Bordeaux, Champagne, white Burgundy and Port are all up 8-14% over the past 14 months. Rhone wines have also picked up and are now showing over 6% appreciation during this period and California Cults and top Italian wines have moved solidly into the black,” said Gibson.
“While most red Burgundy brands still are still striving to regain the values they reached in 2021, wines from the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti – arguably the most celebrated and highly valued brand of red Burgundy in the world – have appreciated strongly, up about 9% during these last 14 months. The overall strength is such that all of our broad indices are up for the year, most especially the index that tracks mature wine. We think this demonstrates that people are not waiting for new release wine to mature but rather spending money on the perfectly aged wines available in the market. This is in keeping with similar rare wine market cycles back into the 1980s. Spirits Market Journal, which we also publish, reports similar appreciation for rare spirits.”
“While many aspects of the wine market, including bulk wine and low priced labels, have demonstrated substantial weakness since the end of the pandemic, the very high end of the market is robust and keeps gaining strength,” said David Parker, publisher of The Wine Market Journal, CEO of Benchmark Wine Group and president of The National Association of Wine Retailers. “While many people are drinking more moderately, they are drinking better and the dollars spent on wine in the top part of the market continues to rise.” In addition, rare wine’s history of appreciation makes it an attractive alternative investment for those that understand and enjoy the product. It’s the ultimate liquid asset.
While challenges in the industry remain, rebalance of production is in progress. Judging from the heavily attended major wine events that have taken place recently, interest in top wine among both seasoned collectors and the younger generations is robust and strengthening.
Demand for the very best wines is more broadly based than has been recently reported too. “While it’s been widely reported that rare wine aficionados and collectors are ‘aging out’ and the younger generations are eschewing wine, but we’ve found that 30% of the dollar sales at Benchmark Wine Group, the largest rare wine retailer in the country, are to the Millennial generation vs. 25% each to the Gen X and Baby Boomer generations. A growing percent of our sales are going to Generation Z,” said Parker.
“Those older collectors who are cutting down on consumption or realize they have more wine they are likely to consume are finding ready buyers for their top well-stored wines at especially strong prices right now,” said Parker. “This market is at a sweet spot where both buyers and sellers are finding it an ideal time to take action. Unlike other parts of the market where frequent tales of woe are being heard, this is the best of times for serious wine collectors and the rare wines they favor. Traditionally, the market recovers from the top down so we think this bodes well for all categories in the longer term.”
About The Wine Market Journal
The Wine Market Journal is the gold standard for secondary market rare wine valuation, tracking trades at almost all significant wine auctions, live and online, as well as retail trades of many top rare wine retailers. With over 4 million trades going back to 1985, nothing else even comes close. They are the authority most trusted by the top wine tracking site CellarTracker! and most top auction houses and rare wine retailers, collectors, and investors.
About Benchmark Wine Group
Established in 2002, Benchmark Wine Group is a licensed importer, distributor and retailer in California, and the leading source of rare and back-vintage wine for wine retailers, restaurants and collectors in the U.S. and throughout the world.
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SOURCE Benchmark Wine Group
