01 May April 2026 Post-Auction and Market Report

April was a bumper month, both for the Wine Auction Room and for the secondary market globally with US Auction House Acker setting a world record with a single bottle of 1945 Domaine Romanee Conti selling for $558,000 (about $950,000 NZD) in late March and Sotheby’s New York selling two magnums of 1870 Lafite selling for a combined $306,250 (about $525,000 NZD), bottles which were once cellared at Glamis Castle in Scotland as part of a white-glove* auction with sales of over two million USD.

Here at The Wine Auction Room we hosted our bi-monthly live auction, a buy-now event and two online auctions:

April Rare and Fine Wine Live Auction (8 April)
April Live Buy Now (9 April)
Single Vendor: Burgundy and Beyond Part 3 (15 – 20 April)
Celebration of New Zealand and Australian Wine Online Auction (22 – 27 April)

These closed on a total of 706 bottles across 455 lots, with 34 bottles selling at $1000 or more, an extremely positive result for our vendors. As well as the amazing lineup of red and white Burgundy we were able to offer in our Single Vendor Auction we also had a large consignment of high-end Italian wines from a collector in Wellington. 

Top Sellers
Our top five sales for March 2026 were:

2016 Domaine Armand Rousseau Chambertin Clos de Bèze Grand Cru ($4112.50)
2013 Domaine J.F. Mugnier Les Amoureuses Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru ($3525)
2010 Domaine Vicomte Liger-Belair Vosne Romanee 1er Cru Aux Reignots ($3525)
2010 Alain Hudelot-Noellat Richebourg Grand Cru ($2350)
2010 Domaine de la Vougeraie Musigny Grand Cru ($3250)

New Zealand
New Zealand Wine represented about 25% of all sales, with out very top New Zealand sale being a single bottle of 2016 Bell Hill Limeworks Chardonnay which sold at our live auction for $517, which set a Wine Auction Room record for the highest price achieved for a 750ml bottle of New World White Wine (a record that was set by bottles of 2020 and 2016 Bell Hill Chardonnay in our Live December Auction last year).

In fact New Zealand whites did extremely well across the board with bottles of 2019 Kumeu River Mate’s Vineyard Chardonnay selling for $176.25 (26% above high estimate), 2013 Felton Road Riesling selling at $64.63 (29% above high estimate) and a bottle of 2019 Valli Waitaki Chardonnay selling for $141 (above high estimate).

We also saw strong results from multiple Pinot Noir bottlings from Bell Hill, 2011 Kusuda Pinot Noir, several vintages of Stonyridge Larose including a Magnum of 1989 and wines from Te Mata, Felton Road and Prophet’s Rock Pinot Noir. 55 lots, just under half of those on offer, sold for $100 a bottle or more.

USA and Australia
With such a strong focus on the wines of Burgundy and Italy, the USA and Australia took a back seat in April, representing about 4% of our sales (for context Australia alone represented about 8.5% of our sales in 2025) however the wines that were on offer sold well. Highlights include trios of Penfolds Grange (1999, 2001 and 2006) and Dominus (2018, 2020 and 2021) alongside several vintages of Penfolds 707 Cabernet, Stags Leap Artemis Cabernet and rarities like Beechworth Nebbiolo from Giaconda. 

Italy
Italy represented about 16% of April sales and was largely made up by high-end wines from Tuscany and Piedmont with a few gems from Sicily thrown in for good measure. Our top sale was a bottle of 2016 Poggio di Sotto Brunello di Montalcino Riserva which sold for $587.50. We also had good sales for Barolo from Gaja, Bartolo Mascarello and Paolo Scavino; other vintages of Poggio di Sotto, wines from Bibi Graetz, and a 2000 vintage Ornellaia. 

France
French wine represented a whopping 57% of our sales by lot in April with the top sales being a veritable who’s who of Burgundy; as well as the five producers mentioned in our top 5 overall sales we also saw great results from wines from Domaine Georges Roumier, Domaine J.F. Mugnier, Domaine Dujac, Domaine Roulot and many more. As well as these grail wines, we also saw extremely strong results for lesser bottlings; for example two bottles of 2017 Domaine Mongeard-Mugneret Bourgogne Aligote sold for $94 a bottle, 57% above high estimates.

Looking further afield, Bordeaux also performed admirably by wines from Mouton Rothschild, Leoville Baron, Lynch Bages and six bottles (accross two lots) of the legendary 2005 vintage of Chateau Rieussec all selling above our high estimates. 

Fortified Wines and Whisky
We saw strong demand for Vintage Port and Single Malt Whisky again in April with strong sales from the likes of Cockburns, Grahams, The Macallan and Cardhu.

Takeaways and Investment Advice

Market Stability
Vinium’s March Report (published mid-April), highlights the overall stability of the market stating boldly that, “not even the threat of the extinction of an entire civilisation is enough to make waves, not in the short term at least.”

Likewise, they also name check Canterbury as one of 17 regions whose wines traded in March and after a quick look at their website we can infer that they are referring to the wines of Bell Hill, with a six-pack of 2020 Old Weka Pass currently listed for in-bond for £390 or around $150NZD a bottle in bond (if you include VAT and excise we’d estimate about $185), two bottles of this wine traded at The Wine Auction Room in April (albeit from different vintages), selling for between $164.50 (2016) and $176.25 (2011). It is remarkable how close this pricing is.

Bordeaux en-primeur
The 2025 Bordeaux en-primeur (EP) campaign has just begun so there is a lot of industry chatter both about the wines (which seems promising) but also about the EP system and Bordeaux pricing generally. Drinks Business is reporting that Liv-Ex is actively encouraging producers to make the campaigns fun again and not leave buyers “feeling like the butt of a joke” (i.e. ripped off), citing the fact that while 2024 was a “unicorn” vintage, “many wines remain readily available”. They are also reporting Liv-Ex data that shows that while still the most important category in the secondary market, Bordeaux has significantly dropped in prominence since the early 2000s when it represented about 80% of the market and now sits between 30% and 40%. The article also says that it is “unlikely” US buyers will be supportive of the 2025 vintage campaign, in part due to global uncertainty but also due to the effect of tariffs.

Wines ‘Coming-of-Age’ as an asset class…
A significant amount of data has been published over the last few weeks about wine, generally, as an asset class with auction house Acker publishing a report showing that wine outperformed the markets and and bitcoin (and remember, you can’t drink crypto) if the market tanks with only gold outperforming wine (Acker points out that gold is slightly more volatile than wine – that said, they are unlikely to be trading in very much natural wine).

Jokes aside, this report is well worth the read, as is its list of top-performing producers:

On a similar note, Drinks Business published two articles that support this, with the first suggesting wine is in a class of its own when compared to other collectables (be that art, cars, or Pokemon cards) and essentially now behaves more like “property or private equity” and that the data suggests this has been the case since around 2011 and that in the context of the UK market (where stock is kept in-bond) wine has evolved from a “risk-on luxury asset” to a “real asset.” 

Likewise, they are also reporting how sophisticated investors have significantly increased their reliance on wine as a hedge against market volatility in the last twelve months with ⅓ of committed investors allocating 20-30% of their wealth to fine wine and 50% holding at least 10% of their wealth in wine. This is in stark contrast to the previous years findings which suggested that, “no investors allocated over 20% to fine wine, with the vast majority (60%) keeping exposure below the 10% threshold,” The main reasons? Stability and liquidity (ironically a significant issue around wine investment generally) with the article concluding by saying, “the fear of exiting wine as an asset seems to no longer apply”  as the secondary wine market is no longer ‘niche’ but “a well-established, global ecosystem”.

* A “white-glove auction” is a term for an auction where every lot sells. This is an extremely rare occurrence and we are proud to have had two such auctions here at The Wine Auction Room. 

Please note: all prices quoted include the Buyers Premium (ex-GST)