The biggest fine wine auctions of 2025
Despite the subdued nature of the fine wine market, 2025 has seen plenty of white-glove sales and some eye-watering prices. We’ve rounded up the biggest sales that went under the hammer this year.
Cellar of William I. Koch (US$28.8 million)
The biggest sale of the year spot goes to a wine sale of legendary collector and billionaire industrialist William I. Koch, which took place in New York in June. The Christie’s single owner fine wine sale marked the triumphant return of the auction house to New York wine after it had to pause NY operations in 2019. The sale comprised 1,500 lots, around half of them large-format bottles and historic vintages from Bordeaux and Burgundy estates, which had been expected to raise a minimum of $15 million. However, the actual total, of US$28.8 million (£21.504m), nearly twice the minimum pre-sale estimate, proved the resilience of the market when the wines are of impeachable provenance. Bordeaux and Burgundy made up the lion’s share, including including 45 Jeroboams and Methuselahs from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, and wines from Pétrus, Mouton Rothschild, Lafite Rothschild, Leroy, Henri Jayer, Armand Rousseau, Margaux, and Château Cheval Blanc.
Among the highlights was a Methuselah of 1999 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Romanée-Conti, which sold for an eye-popping US$275,000.
Hospices de Beaune
Burgundy continued to see strong demand across the year, as was proved by the legendary Hospices de Beaune sale which took place in November. The total raised was €18,754,670 (£16.455 million) which proved to be the third-highest total in the sale’s 165-year history. There was also a 4.6% increase in the average hammer price per barrel – the fifth consecutive year that the average price per barrel has exceeded €30,000.
The 2025 edition comprised 522 lots, a welcome return after last year’s massively reduced yields. It also provided a new record for the most valuable barrel ever sold, for the Bâtard-Montrachet [Grand Cru, Cuvée Dames de Flandres], with each barrel achieving €400,000.
Zachys’ auction featuring wines from the cellar of Jacqueline (de Rothschild) Piatigorsky
US wine auction house Zachys’ saw its auction of de Rothschild wines quadruple the pre-sale estimate. The sale featured wines from the cellar of Jacqueline (de Rothschild) Piatigorsky, which realised US$11,160,375 (£8.311million), smashing its US$2.8m pre-sale estimate.
There comprised 177 lots of Lafite-Rothschild, along with 498 bottles and large formats, which sold for US$6.49 million, and a rare Lafite Blanc — a wine not produced at Lafite-Rothschild since the 1960s. Piatigorsky, the granddaughter of Baron James de Rothschild who bought Château Lafite in 1868, had acquired all of the bottles on release from the cellar, and stored them in Pauillac ever since. As well as Lafite, lots came from 20 châteaux, which had never left Pauillac prior to the auction.
The auction began with Châteaux Branaire-Ducru, Brane-Cantenac, Cheval Blanc, Cos d’Estournel and an ultra-rare three bottle lot of 1899 Haut-Brion achieved a record price of US$100,000, followed by a three-bottle case of 1899 Haut-Brion (US$106,250)
The sale achieved world-record prices for Giscours, with the sale of three bottles of 1875 Giscours for US$106,250, (£79,724); 11 lots of Sauternes from Climens, La Tour Blanche, Rayne Vigneau, and Suduiraut.
Christie’s – Joseph Lau
Fourth on our list is the Christie’s sale of Joseph Lau’s wine collection, the third in a series of sales of Lau’s collection from the company’s Hong Kong sale rooms, which included 200 lots of wine. A white glove sales, the wine brought in HK$72.8m (£6.985m), around 159% over the sale’s total pre-sale low estimate.
According to Michelle Chan, head of wine, Asia-Pacific at Christie’s, the company’s presence on social media platforms had helped bring the sale to the consumer, with collectors in Mainland China able to bid for lots via WeChat, the app that Chinese consumers use for a variety of services, from virtual payments to social media and e-commerce. She noted that more than 40% of buyers bought online, reflecting Christie’s evolving digital presence and strategy to engage new and younger collectors and millennials accounted for 55% of new buyers.
Bottles available in Part III of Lau’s private collection included rarities from Henri Jayer, featuring celebrated vintages of Cros Parantoux from the 1980s to 2001; offerings from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti including Romanée-Conti and Montrachet from the 1990s to the 2010s; and bottlings of Échezeaux, La Tâche and Richebourg. White Burgundies included Leflaive Montrachet and rare d’Auvenay Batard-Montrachet.
Bearing in mind this is the third part of this sale since 2022, the amount raised from Lau’s collection so far totals HK$198m.
Distillers One of One
The third edition of the Distillers One of One auction – a biennial sales that comprises ultra-rare one-off Scotch whiskies from 35 companies and distilleries across Scotland – brought in record-breaking £2.9m in 2025. The sale not only soundly beat its previous total, but also smashed its pre-sale estimate of £1.4million.
Of the 39 whisky’s auctioned, 30 achieved auction records, including The Glenlivet, Port Ellen, Ladyburn, Glenfarclas, The Glendronach, Laphroaig, Kandoblanc and The Glen Grant, with “lively bidding in the room and on the telephones”, the organisers said.
Christie’s Bouchard Père & Fils’
December also saw Christie’s sale from Bouchard Père & Fils’ historic cellars, which achieved £2.4 million.
The two-part landmark auction, which was held on 4 December included “some of the rarest wines ever to come to market” according to Christie’s, nearly doubled its low pre-sale estimate of £1.226 million, achieving £2,377,388 overall.
Partner Content
Historic Burgundies triumphed, with the historical wines from the first part of the sale hitting £1,788,125, while the afternoon session, which was dedicated to the Vosne-Romanée 1er cru Aux Reignots, raised £589,263 – roughly in the middle of its pre-sale estimate of £504,900–£678,100.
Christie’s global head of wine and spirits Adam Bilbey said the white glove sale was an extraordinary way to close the year at Christie’s London and reflected “both the rarity of these historic bottles and the deep global enthusiasm for Burgundy of exceptional provenance.”
Highlights included: 1861 Romanée St-Vivant (estimate: £9,500–14,000), 1 bottle per lot; 1886 La Tâche, (estimate: £14,000–19,000), 1 bottle per lot; and 1945 Musigny, (estimate: £3,500–5,500), 1 bottle per lot; a 1978 Vosne-Romanée Aux Reignots (estimate: £3,200–4,200), 6 bottles
Bonhams sale of cellar of French restaurant Hostellerie Jérôme
The next auction on our list also hailed from Hong Kong, with the first in a six-part auction of wines from the cellar of French restaurant, Hostellerie Jérôme, which raised HK$25,900,000 (£2.54m/ US$3.328m)
The famed cellar boasted 25,000 bottles, spanning French wine regions including Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, and the Rhône Valley, with every bottle having been purchased directly from the domaines upon release and stored in the restaurant’s cellars for more than three decades.
The first sale took place in November, comprising 506 lots, with five more due over the next … years, across three different locations.
Among the most notable lots in the first sale were three bottles of Domaine Leroy Musigny 2009, which sold for HK$875,000 (£83,868/ US$112,437) , more than double its low estimate of HK$400,000, and a 15-case assortment of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti from the 2019 vintage, which achieved for HK$525,000 (£50,321/ US$ 67,463) against a pre-sale estimate of HK$350,000 – 480,000.
Napa Valley Vintners
June saw the Napa Valley Vintners raise US$6.5 million for charity, a marked increase on last year’s $4.8 million (although it has yet to come anywhere close to the $18.7 million raised before the Covid pandemic).
Albert Yeung in Hong Kong
In September, Sotheby’s hosted a sale of Hong Kong property tycoon Albert Yeung Sau-shing , a collection that was valued at more than HK$10 million (£954,000). The sale smashed its high estimate to achieve a total of HK$17,660,000 (£1,664,000/US$2.269million)
Domaine Faiveley Jubilee sale
November saw stellar results for wines sold at Christie’s to celebrate Domaine Faiveley 200th Jubilee. The “epic” online auction, saw record prices for its historic “unicorn” vintages that dated back to the early 20th century, resulting in a white glove sale that achieved £911,038 overall. This far exceeded its low-estimate, and some wines achieved four or five times the anticipated price.
Highlights included a rare bottle of Musigny 1908, which achieved £25,000, against an estimate of £7,500 – £9,500 (163% above the high estimate); a bottle of 1934 Clos de Vougeot, the price achieved (£16,250) an astounding 983% above the high estimate; a Corton Clos des Cortons, 1928 which achieved nearly five times (494%) the high estimate at £11,875; and a bottle of Musigny from the 1947 vintage, achieving £17,500 – 150% above the high estimate. A bottle of Domaine Faiveley, Clos de Tart 1916 exceeded its low estimates by over £10,000, achieving £13,750
Burgundy’s Edouard Delaunay ex-cellar sale
Burgundy producer Edouard Delaunay achieved a total of HK$965,375 (£93,062) for an array of rare verticals, large-format bottles, and exclusive cuvées sourced directly from the Delaunay family’s private cellar.
The ex-cellar gems sold in online sale at Bonhams Hong Kong at the start of December, comprising 69 lots, the first time the Maison has sold its wines ex-cellar.
Leading the sale was a unique barrel of Vougeot Premier Cru Les Cras 2023 released in various bottle formats, including one Salmanazar (9l), 12 Jeroboams (3l), 36 Magnums (1.5l) and 135 bottles (750ml). The lot was sold for HK$375,000, surpassing its high estimate of HK$360,000.
Related news
Auction Update: Frank Cornelissen
First ex-cellar auction from Edouard Delaunay achieves white glove sale
