Over the past months we explored how participation in the fine wine market was broadening.
March suggested the market was stabilising.
April suggested capital was becoming more global and more regions were competing for leadership at the same time.
June is revealing the next phase.
The market is becoming increasingly selective.
Capital is still moving, but it is concentrating around the wines collectors have the highest conviction in.
In this blog you'll learn
- What May and June trading data is showing
- Why Bordeaux continues to anchor the market
- How demand for Burgundy is evolving
- Why Italy continues to outperform expectations
- What renewed interest in California could mean
- Why behaviour often improves before prices do
- How collectors should interpret this phase of the market
The broadening phase continues
The good news is that the trends we discussed in April have not disappeared.
Bordeaux remains the market's anchor.
Burgundy continues to attract significant attention.
Italy remains active.
California is seeing renewed interest.
Importantly, buyers continue participating across multiple regions rather than concentrating in a single area of the market.
That remains one of the strongest signals that conditions are improving beneath the surface.
Capital is concentrating at the top end
What has changed is the character of demand.
Looking across Liv-ex trading activity during May and early June, a pattern becomes clear.
Collectors are not buying indiscriminately.
They're concentrating capital in globally recognised, highly liquid producers.
In Bordeaux, names such as Château Lafite Rothschild, Château Mouton Rothschild, Pétrus and Le Pin featured repeatedly among the market's most actively traded wines.
In Burgundy, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti continued to dominate activity, led by wines such as Romanée-Conti and La Tâche.
Italy remained driven by familiar names including Tignanello, Sassicaia and Soldera.
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Meanwhile, California saw renewed attention directed towards Opus One and Screaming Eagle.
This isn't speculative buying.
It's conviction buying.
Bordeaux: still the market's foundation
One of the themes we've discussed throughout 2026 is Bordeaux's role as the market's anchor.
That hasn't changed.
Throughout May and early June, Bordeaux consistently held the largest share of traded value.
Interestingly, much of the activity focused on the 2018, 2019 and 2020 vintages, which many collectors continue to view as attractive value relative to both older trophy vintages and new releases.
Even in softer markets, buyers continue looking for value opportunities.
They simply become more selective about where they deploy capital.
Caption: Breakdown of weekly trade 22 May - 4 June. Source: Liv-ex
Burgundy: scarcity still wins
If Bordeaux represents liquidity, Burgundy continues to represent conviction.
The region maintained a significant share of market activity throughout the period, led overwhelmingly by Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and a small number of elite producers.
This mirrors what we discussed in April.
Demand remains strong.
But it remains concentrated in the very best names.
The market is rewarding scarcity and reputation rather than broad exposure.
Italy: quietly becoming one of the strongest stories
Italy continues to be one of the stronger areas of the fine wine market.
The Liv-ex Italy 100 Index is now positive year-to-date, supported by ongoing demand for Super Tuscans such as Sassicaia, Tignanello and Ornellaia.
Unlike some regions, Italy appears to be benefiting from both collector demand and new release activity.
That combination has allowed the region to remain surprisingly resilient.
California: signs of renewed momentum
California remains a relatively small part of the overall market.
But it is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
Opus One featured prominently in trading activity during May, while Screaming Eagle remained one of the most actively traded wines in the secondary market.
Neither producer is inexpensive.
Which makes the renewed demand more interesting.
Collectors appear increasingly willing to move beyond traditional European regions when they believe scarcity and global demand justify it.
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Behaviour improves before prices do
Perhaps the most important takeaway from June is that activity is improving faster than prices.
The broad Liv-ex Fine Wine 1000 Index is now broadly stable.
Many regional indices, however, remain negative over one and two years.
This is normal.
Markets rarely recover through prices first.
They recover through behaviour first.
Participation improves.
Confidence returns.
Capital starts moving again.
Prices tend to follow later.
The key takeaway
March suggested the market was stabilising.
April suggested participation was broadening.
June suggests conviction is strengthening.
Collectors are not buying everything.
They're buying the wines they believe in most.
Bordeaux continues to provide the market's foundation.
Burgundy continues to attract scarcity-driven demand.
Italy remains resilient.
California is becoming increasingly relevant.
The recovery story isn't complete.
But the behaviour underneath the market continues to improve.
And in fine wine, behaviour tends to change before prices do.
