Our predictions for the fine wine market throughout 2027
After several years defined by correction, repricing and more cautious buying, the fine wine market enters 2027 looking markedly different from the market that preceded it.
The opportunity today is not simply that prices have fallen. It is that the correction has begun to expose the difference between wines that benefited from a rising market and those supported by genuine scarcity, international recognition and persistent collector demand.
There are already signs of greater confidence for fine wine investment in 2026. Fine wine prices have shown increasing stability throughout this year, while buyers have returned selectively to mature Bordeaux, leading Burgundy producers, prestige Champagne and other highly recognised names. Recent Liv-ex trading has similarly demonstrated that capital is moving, but it is not moving indiscriminately.
That distinction may define the year ahead.
Rather than a broad recovery lifting every region equally, we expect the 2027 fine wine investment market to be a market in which producer, vintage, scarcity, format, provenance and entry price matter considerably more than regional reputation alone.
Here are five trends we will be watching.
The Return of Selectivity
Perhaps the most important fine wine trend for 2027 is not attached to any one region. It is selectivity itself.
During stronger market cycles, rising prices can disguise differences in quality and underlying demand. A fashionable region attracts capital, neighbouring producers follow and eventually buyers begin purchasing the category rather than the individual wine.
The correction of recent years has reversed much of that behaviour.
In 2026, pockets of demand have increasingly concentrated around wines with limited availability, mature drinking appeal and established collector followings. Decanter reported earlier this year that prices had broadly stabilised, while buyers were actively seeking everything from mature Bordeaux to keenly priced prestige Champagne.
This is important. The question for 2027 is unlikely to be simply “Which region should I buy?” It becomes: Which producer? Which vineyard? Which vintage? At what price?
That environment favours the strongest brands in fine wine. Producers such as Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Leroy, Rousseau, Petrus, Lafite Rothschild, Haut-Brion, Salon, Krug, Sassicaia and Screaming Eagle possess something increasingly valuable: identity that travels beyond their region.
They are not interchangeable examples of Burgundy, Bordeaux, Champagne, Tuscany or Napa. They have become collectible brands in their own right.
Burgundy: The Hierarchy Matters Again
Few regions illustrate this new selectivity as clearly as Burgundy.
The extraordinary expansion of Burgundy during the previous fine wine bull market brought unprecedented attention – and unprecedented pricing – to the region. Over time, appreciation extended beyond its most established domaines into increasingly broad sections of the market.
The subsequent correction has been equally revealing.
Earlier in 2026, market commentators highlighted continued fragility in parts of mid-tier Burgundy. At the top, demand has hardly disappeared.
In early October, Burgundy represented 28.5% of Liv-ex trade by value, with Domaine de la Romanée-Conti alone responsible for more than a third of Burgundy activity and 10.6% of total market trade that week.
The lesson for 2027 is not that Burgundy is simply “back”. It is that the hierarchy within Burgundy is becoming increasingly important again.
At the very top sit names such as Leroy, DRC, Rousseau and Roumier, where microscopic production meets decades of critical and collector recognition. Below them lies a much larger universe in which reputation, vineyard holding, production and price vary enormously.
For investors, this distinction matters.
Burgundy bought purely because it carried the right appellation benefited enormously when prices across the region rose together. A more discerning market is likely to place far greater emphasis on who made the wine.
Auction activity strengthens the case for the rarest names. Burgundy continues to behave increasingly like other collectible markets, where provenance, rarity, producer and individual bottling can create enormous differences in price.
In 2027, we expect great Burgundy to remain highly relevant – but generic Burgundy exposure to become considerably less compelling.
Mature Bordeaux Finds Its Audience Again
For years, one of the dominant fine wine narratives has been diversification away from Bordeaux. In 2027, one of the more interesting opportunities may come from looking back.
There are increasing signs that buyers are rediscovering the value of mature Bordeaux and proven back vintages, rather than automatically favouring the latest release.
Recent trading supports this. In September, Bordeaux represented 44.3% of Liv-ex trade by value in one week, with buyers concentrating particularly on highly regarded vintages including 2009, 2016, 2020 and 2022. Lafite Rothschild 2016, Lynch-Bages 2020 and Léoville-Poyferré 2009 were among the leading wines.
The attraction is understandable. A mature bottle of Bordeaux has something a newly released wine cannot replicate: years of storage have already occurred, drinking windows are closer or already open and bottles are beginning to disappear permanently through consumption.
Scarcity therefore increases naturally.
The recent Château Haut-Brion auction at Sotheby’s provided an extreme example of this enduring appetite. The October 2026 sale achieved €3.4 million, with a five-litre Jeroboam of Haut-Brion 1989 selling for €62,500 and other mature vintages comfortably exceeding estimates.
Names such as Haut-Brion, Lafite Rothschild, Latour, Mouton Rothschild, Margaux, Petrus, and Cheval Blanc therefore deserve renewed attention.
It also raises a more uncomfortable question for the traditional Bordeaux model: Why automatically buy a new vintage En Primeur if an established, highly rated physical vintage is available at an equally compelling – or lower – price?
The 2025 En Primeur campaign saw some improvement from the particularly weak previous campaign, but UK merchants still described demand as below the levels seen five years earlier.
En Primeur remains an important part of the fine wine ecosystem, particularly when pricing creates genuine incentive to buy early. But 2027 investors are likely to be less loyal to the mechanism itself. Value will need to be earned. That could make mature Bordeaux one of the more interesting areas of the market in the year ahead.
Champagne Reset After the Correction
Champagne’s investment story has travelled through almost an entire market cycle in a relatively short period.
Rapidly increasing collector interest pushed the category into the investment mainstream. Prices climbed, liquidity increased and prestige cuvées became a much more familiar component of fine wine portfolios.
Then came the correction. The result going into 2027 is potentially compelling. Liv-ex’s Champagne 50 has recently returned to annual growth, while commentators have described current conditions as a particularly attractive environment for Champagne buyers following the repricing of recent years.
Trading activity has also demonstrated that demand remains significant. Champagne recently reached 21.4% of Liv-ex trade by value in one week before settling to 13.9% the following week, with American buyers accounting for 47% of regional purchasing and concentrating on names including Dom Pérignon.
But once again, we would distinguish between Champagne as a category and its most collectible wines.
For 2027, the names worth watching include Salon, Krug, Louis Roederer Cristal and Dom Pérignon. Each offers a slightly different investment proposition.
Salon represents extreme scarcity. Krug offers considerable depth across vintages and releases. Cristal and Dom Pérignon bring exceptional international brand recognition and comparatively established secondary-market liquidity. As bottles are consumed and mature vintages become harder to replace, the characteristics that made Champagne attractive in the first place remain intact. What has changed is the price.
After the correction, 2027 may be less about discovering Champagne and more about identifying where the reset has created value within it.
The Investment Map Continuing to Widen
Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne will remain at the centre of the fine wine market. But increasingly, some of the most interesting stories are developing beyond them. Italy is an obvious example.
Piedmont
Rather than treating Italy as one investment category, we believe the increasingly important story is producer selection – particularly in Piedmont. Recent Liv-ex activity has seen Piedmont overtake Tuscany by traded value, with Giacomo Conterno and Gaja leading activity.
Names such as Gaja, Giacomo Conterno, and Bruno Giacosa combine several attributes historically associated with collectible Burgundy: limited production, vineyard hierarchy, long ageing potential, critical recognition and passionate global followings.
Tuscany remains important (read more about signature Tuscan producers here), particularly through brands such as Sassicaia, Ornellaia and Tignanello, but Piedmont could increasingly command attention from collectors looking beyond Burgundy for rare, terroir-driven wines.
The United States
The US is another area to watch from both sides of the market. American buyers have become a major source of fine wine demand in 2026, accounting for 41% of total Liv-ex purchasing by value during one recent week and more than half of Bordeaux purchases.
At the same time, America’s own cult producers continue to develop international secondary-market relevance. Screaming Eagle, Harlan Estate, Promontory, Scarecrow, Opus One and Dominus each offer different combinations of production scarcity, prestige and brand recognition. Recent Liv-ex trading has seen Scarecrow lead US activity, alongside active trading in Opus One and Screaming Eagle.
As the fine wine market becomes increasingly international, the distinction between “American wine” and “traditional investment wine” may continue to narrow.
England
English fine wine remains far earlier in its development. It should therefore be approached differently.
We are not suggesting that English sparkling wine currently possesses the market depth, trading history or liquidity of Champagne or Bordeaux. What makes it interesting is precisely that the category has not yet reached that stage.
Producers such as Gusbourne are helping establish an increasingly sophisticated hierarchy within English wine, while prestige cuvées, vintage releases and large formats are beginning to demonstrate how the category could evolve.
For investors, 2027 may therefore be less about treating English wine as an established investment category and more about watching how one is being built.
The development of truly collectible wine markets takes time. Producer reputation must deepen. Older vintages must prove their longevity. Secondary markets need to emerge. Scarce formats have to become genuinely difficult to source. England is beginning that journey. And for that reason, it deserves watching.
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After several years of falling prices, the temptation is to assume that everything is now cheap. It isn’t. But repricing has created something arguably more valuable: difference.
Between a famous name and a truly scarce wine. Between an attractive vintage and an attractive price. Between a region enjoying attention and a producer capable of sustaining demand for decades.
For fine wine investors, 2027 could therefore be characterised not by a return to the exuberance of the previous cycle, but by something healthier: a return to choosing well. Get in touch with a CB team member to find out how you can make the most of fine wine investment heading into 2027.
