Benchmark Wine Group results explode notion of a dying wine trade

Leading rare and fine wine specialist Benchmark has revealed a “record-breaking” third quarter, which it says will make 2025 “the strongest year in its history.” Is this a pocket of hope in an otherwise gloomy narrative?

Benchmark Wine Group, a cornerstone of the fine and rare wine market in the US, is on track to see its strongest financial performance in its 23-year history.

Speaking to the drinks business, owner and CEO David Parker said: “Combined sales for Q3 2025 were about 7% higher than the same quarter last year, which was the previous record for our third fiscal quarter. Sales for Q3 2025 were about 12% higher than the same quarter in 2021, which was Benchmark’s record before that, and at the height of the pandemic, demonstrating that it is possible to grow beyond that ‘boom-time’ for wine.”

Benchmark’s results indicate that rather than 2025 being an annus horribilis for the wine trade, it could end up being one of the greats for certain operators.

It also calls into question the assertion made by Liv-ex earlier this month that US buyers of fine wine have remained wary and “at bay” following Trump’s latest tariff gymnastics, with Sophia Gilmour, Liv-ex’s market analyst of market intelligence, saying that “the importance of US buyers had perhaps not been fully realised until their exodus.”

However, Gilmour balanced this by claiming that “prices had lowered to levels that were beginning to attract buyers.”

Millennial power

Parker revealed that his company’s record earnings were in keeping with earlier forecasts.

“We have previously said that the combined sales outlook for Benchmark’s companies in 2025 was roughly US$50 million and our Q3 results are in keeping with that,” confirmed Parker.

“Our combined operations in Napa and Washington DC, along with our acquisition of Wine Spectrum in 2024, drove the highest third-quarter sales in company history.”

When db spoke to Parker shortly after the Wine Spectrum acquisition, he revealed that the merger brought together the crème de la crème of both old and new vintages under one roof. Wine Spectrum, he explained, focuses on “hard-to-get current vintages”, whereas Benchmark’s modus operandi is “super-impossible-to-get, very old back vintages”. The customers of each company also typically occupy opposite ends of the collector demographic, with Benchmark appealing to high net worth individuals, “usually Gen X or Baby Boomers”, while Spectrum attracts “younger, emerging collectors, who have just started their own cellars.”

That formula appears to have paid dividends as this week Parker shared that he is “especially encouraged by the rise of Millennial collectors, who now represent 30% of our sales.”

Rare wines at competitive prices

Underscoring the strength of Benchmark’s model, says Parker, is “pairing high-touch service with advanced technology to offer the largest, most pristine selection of rare wines at competitive prices.”

He attributes much of the business’ recent success to “focusing on top-tier wines with guaranteed provenance” which has helped Benchmark to “grow its base of collectors, investors and trade clients.” Parker and his team are known for sourcing wines from top private cellars and brokers, as well as directly from producers’ libraries. In fact, Parker spotted a window of opportunity in working with “high-end producers winding down brands”, which he says gives Benchmark “exclusive access to exceptional wines that might otherwise be unavailable.”

Helping “distressed vendors”, he says, “helps to strengthen the entire sector.”

Along with Wine Spectrum, Benchmark Wine Group also owns First Growth Technologies, Inc, and is the publisher of The Wine Market Journal & Spirits Market Journal.

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