Vinum Fine Wines Market Report June 2026

May Performance

May proved to be the worst month for quite a while for the 50 and 100 indices, while the broader based 1,000 fared better, see below. 

Looking at the year-to-date numbers gives a clear picture of where we are this year – unchanged. Turnover year to date remains much healthier than last year, thank goodness, but May was a quieter month.

Bordeaux en primeur dominated the wine scene, as it always does at this time of year. All eyes were on EP pricing and, as predicted last month, it is a challenging yet interesting campaign. 

There has been plenty to cheer about, huge scores for some very fairly priced wines and we have had some reasonable success selling some carefully selected Châteaux. 

Cheval Blanc has been the only total sell out so far, but we’ve also seen notable interest in the following: Angelus, Canon, Carmes Haut Brion, Cos d’Estournel, Haut Brion, Lafleur, Lafite, La Mission HB, Margaux, Mouton and Pontet Canet.

The Regional indices: 

As you can see from the monthly numbers, it was a mixed bag in May. California continues to struggle and impacts the Rest of the World’s numbers whilst it’s about it. 

Italy

Italy had a good month, with particularly good performances from Ornellaia and Soldera. The latter has been the star performer from Italy and goes to show that going your own way and not being part of the local classification can work – it’s all about the quality of the wine. 

The secondary market, once again, proves this point. The price performance over the last five years for multiple vintages of Soldera has been outstanding:

Ornellaia has quietly knocked Sassicaia off the top spot for being the best all-rounder of the super Tuscans, possibly because it’s a little more affordable.

The same argument can be applied to Gaja’s straight Barbaresco which has delivered consistent positive price appreciation over many vintages in recent years, quite some feat in this market! It trades at around half the price to single vineyard offerings, so that’s maybe the reason.

This argument does not always stand up, however. The performance of Masseto 2016, now offered at £800 a bottle, suggests otherwise; it has risen by well over 30% over the last five years. 

It is these idiosyncrasies the wine market consistently produces that drove an ex-business partner to eschew a career in the wine markets in favour of foreign exchange data. Perhaps a touch more logical and precise but where is the romance in that? 

Of the Italian index wines hailing from Piedmont, only 3 vintages of Monfortino are posting positive numbers over a five-year period, including the ’14 (+1.6%), the 2008 (+5%) and the 2005 (+21.4%).

Burgundy 

Burgundy had a good month, posting +0.7% for the month and representing 45% of our turnover. Coche-Dury outpaced all other names by a distance in price performance. 

White Burgundy at the top end is rock solid, and top cuvées seem to be even more desirable than ever before. It would appear the usual suspects are in permanent demand. 

On this note, keep an eye out for relative newcomer, but Puligny born and bred, Alvina Pernot, granddaughter of icon Paul Pernot. She is making tip-top quality, critically acclaimed, beautiful white Burgs.

Colleague Matthew Hemming (MW) has just returned from Burgfest where the group slurped their way through 1er and Grand Cru whites from 2022. 

Please see a selection of Burgfest reports here:

Nutshell version: brilliant vintage.

Longer version: first impressions

Longest version:  full report 

Explore Our 2022 White Burgundy Collection

The reds of Burgundy continued to be a mixed bag, both in terms of price performance and what’s in favour and what isn’t. Within the Domaine of Romanée Conti the results of the different individual wines are more varied than you might imagine. 

Looking at the average price movement from the eight physically available vintages that have a two-year trading history, the results are as follows:

For the record, Rousseau Chambertin comes in at -19.6%, the worst performer in the index, outdoing Roumier Bonnes Mares at -16.8%.

How a couple of glasses of wine wrecked a life

You may have caught the ridiculous story surrounding Dragon Den’s hero, Steven Bartlett, and how his life was wrecked by having a couple of glasses of wine. 

In his popular diary of a CEO podcast, Steve (to his friends) describes how the wine wrecked his optimisation levels for a few days. Our CEO questioned what optimisation was. He (our CEO, not Steve) then wanted to know whether it was a gentle Weingut Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett (8.0% ABV) or an 18.5% Run Riot Shiraz from the Barossa Valley that destroyed him. And was it two glasses or three? And what is wrong with him anyway? 

Needless to say, the story has brought about a high level of ridicule from all around the traps and we’re all keeping calm and carrying on. 

Talking of Podcasts

A podcast much more worth listening to is this: FT Unhedged, Luxury during wartime

It is very interesting about pricing from the luxury sector post-covid – companies thought there was no limit to how far price could be pushed and were even worried they were not pushing then up fast enough – what hubris! 

Although the discussion is about the luxury sector in general, the characteristics of the fine wine market rear up throughout, especially in terms of new release pricing.

 Robert Armstrong and Katie Martin are great presenters, are very well informed, and easy and enjoyable to listen to.

Vintage 1976 – Fifty years on 

A client of Vinum’s sought assistance with sourcing some good condition wines from 1976 to celebrate his 50th birthday at Noble Rot Soho in the private dining room. 

Apparently it was quite a good night! Here are my colleague Tony’s tasting notes: 

1976 Bollinger RD

Really evolved, no bubbles left and golden colour. White truffle, orange blossom, like an Amontillado in flavour, slightly volatile acidity but an interesting 76 bottle to try first up.

1976 Piper Rare 

First ever vintage and very good reason for it. Showing really well, still a little effervescence. Orange blossom, caramel, truffle, brioche. Incredibly impressive. 

1976 Dom Perignon Oenotheque

Phenomenal. Arguably the best bottle of the evening. Disgorged in 2003. Was in extremely high demand around the table and for good reason – so intense and rich but with that linear precision that great DP always carries. It’s probably got 10-20 years still ahead. 

 2017 Aurata, Antica Terra

Rare back vintage AT from a direct allocation, great texture and elegance, ageing wonderfully and providing the table with a bit of freshness.

 1976 Nuits St Georges Les Poisets, Robert Arnoux

Incredibly strong bottle, we thought this tasted like a 20-year-old Premier Cru, if not Grand Cru. Still bright in colour, barely any bricking, bright in flavour too with masses of fruit and energy remaining. Wonderful.

1976 Nebbiolo d’Alba, Vietti

Major overperformer, it was well balanced, refined and had those great secondary/tertiary characteristics you’d expect. 

1976 Barolo, Fratelli

Incredibly this was actually still a bit tight, so we had to decant for half an hour! Once it opened up a bit it was unbelievable, vibrant, full of that classic Barolo tar and rose petal character, seamless really. 

1976 Imperial Gran Reserva, CVNE

Wonderful experience, bright and silky, incredibly still pretty youthful with tonnes of nuance and lots to discuss. Pepper, spice, cedar, vanilla, tobacco, blackcurrant. 

1976 Mouton Rothschild

Seductive, flashy nose, quite heady, crowd pleaser for sure. 

1976 Lafite Rothschild

Really good, outperformed CT notes I’d read about this Lafite vintage. It was well balanced, everything in place and really did deliver an amazing mature Bordeaux experience.

1976 Yquem

Beautiful bottle, more elegant and refined than other Yquem I’ve had of this age, not at all bombastic or overblown. Fresh end to the lineup.

Last words

Inflation fears are still rife, but Mr. Trump says they will fall like a rock when the Iran war ends but they have to stop blowing each other up for that to happen. 

Apparently, that should be the case now the Memorandum of Understanding has been announced but there’s probably some way to go before the dust really settles. The oil price has been receding, so that’s a decent start. 

Within the UK, the defence secretary has just resigned, and the leadership is teetering on the brink, still!. All eyes are on the Makerfield by-election.

The global cost of living crisis continues unabated sadly. 

So, all in all, nothing particularly new. 

I do, however, keep thinking how wonderful it would be to be thirty again and about to start my wine collection now. Some of the en primeur prices for some truly magnificent wines are more appealing now than they were twenty-five years ago. And you wouldn’t have to wait twenty-five years to drink them! 

Miles Davis, 18th June 2026