03 Jul June 2026 Post-Auction and Markets Report

Here at The Wine Auction Room we had an incredibly busy June hosting a live auction (followed by a Buy Now event) and two online wine auctions. 

June Live Rare and Fine Wine Auction – Tuesday 3 June
June Buy Now – Wednesday 4 June
Single Vendor Auction Burgundy and Beyond (Part 4) – Weds 10 June to Mon 15 June
Mid-Winter Rare and Fine Wine Online Auction – Weds 24 June to Mon 29 June

These closed on a total of 832 bottles across 543 lots, with 23 lots selling for $1000 or over. June 2026 is now our highest turnover month, putting a cap on a very successful Q2 and, most importantly, delivering strong returns to our vendors. We also saw 9% of lots close over the high estimate, in some cases quite significantly which was the case for a bottle of 1996 Penfolds Bin 128 selling for $246.75, 174% up on our high estimate of $90. For context the current vintage of this wine sells at around $60 a bottle. 

Due to both our Burgundy and Beyond Single Vendor Auction and the entry of some fantastic Burgundy from other vendors in our June Live Auction, our top five sellers for June 2026 were all Red Burgundy with three extremely high-profile producers represented.

Top Sellers
Our top five sales for June 2026 were:
1999 Leroy Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru, Cote de Nuits ($7402.50)
2019 Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair La Romanee Grand Cru, Cote de Nuits ($7050)
2002 Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair La Romanee Grand Cru, Cote de Nuits ($5875)
2011 Domaine de la Romanee Conti Romanee St Vivant Grand Cru, Cote de Nuits (4582.50)
2013 Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair Aux Reignots Vosne-Romanee 1er Cru, Cote de Nuits ($4230)

New Zealand
New Zealand wines made up about 26% of our sales in June with nine of our top ten sales being for classic Bordeaux blends from Te Mata (including magnums), Stonyridge and Destiny Bay. The “odd-man-out” was a magnum of ‘16 Neudorf Moutere Chardonnay which sold for $235. 

All in all we saw 56% of New Zealand lots sell for $100 or over with 21 different producers represented. While our very top sales were dominated by Bordeaux blends there was also significant demand for a range of wines with a large selection of other styles selling above high estimates. These included Cabernet Blends from Stonyridge, Te Mata and Ata Rangi; Pinot Noir from Felton Road, Rippon and Ata Rangi; Syrah from Dry River, Bridge Pa and Bilancia; Chardonnay from Kumeu River; and Riesling from Neudorf and Felton Road. This is the third consecutive month we have seen strong demand for NZ whites. 

Australia
After a couple of months with low listings for serious Australian wine we’re pleased to say that wine from over the ditch represented about 7% of our sales with strong demand for a wide range of styles including classic reds, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Riesling. Our very top sale was a bottle of 2004 Penfolds Bin 60A Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz which sold for $822.50. As mentioned earlier there was especially strong demand for older Australian vintages with multiple Penfolds bottlings from the late 90’s joined by an ‘03 Wolf Blass Platinum Shiraz and ‘91 Wynns Centenary Shiraz / Cabernet all selling above high estimate. 

Spain, Italy and Germany
Spain represented 7% of total sales, up significantly from previous months showing strong demand for Iberian wine, especially Rioja. We saw fabourable returns for wines from Ygay, La Rioja Alta, Bodegas Contator, Lopez de Heredia and Muga with the top sale being for a bottle of 2010 Marques de Murrieta Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial Rioja selling at $387.50.

Italy represented 5% of sales in June with top sellers being a trio of lots featuring various vintages of Ornellaia, the 2006 vintage fetching the highest price at $470 per bottle. We also saw strong sales of Canalicchio di Sopra Brunello and Massolino Barolo and also had strong interest in Italian whites with a pair of Vie di Romans Sauvignon Blanc selling at a high estimate of $100. 

While only making up a tiny percentage of sales we did see strong results from German Riesling from J.J. Prum and Dr Loosen with bottles from these producers selling at or well above high estimate. 

France
French Wine represented 49% of sales in June with the lion’s share being from Burgundy for which we are seeing strong demand, so much so that a pair of wines from Domaine de la Romanee Conti fell outside our top 5 sales (‘08 and ‘12 Echezeaux both selling at $4112.50). 

At the top end we saw especially persistent demand for wines from Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair, Georges Roumier and Krug selling above high estimates and in the case of a bottle of ‘13 Premier Cru Aux Reignots from Comte Liger-Belair, significantly so, selling for 63% over our high estimate. We also saw strong demand for wine in the middle of the ‘fine wine’ market (i.e. between $100 – $500) including Burgundy from Chateau de la Tour (Clos Vougeot), Tollot-Beaut, Denis Bachelet and Comte Armand; Bordeaux from Chasse-Spleen, Pontet Cantet and Branaire Ducru; and Chateauneuf from Pegau and Clos des Papes. 

Market News
En Premieur News – Vinum is reporting that despite the 2025 EP Campaign being “challenging yet interesting”, Cheval Blanc is a “total sell out” and there is strong interest in all the first growths (note, Latour no longer releases wine En Primeur) alongside Pontet Canet, Angelus and Lafleur; all of whom were singled out as potential 100 point wines. 

Bordeaux and Burgundy are going at it neck-in-neck – While representing only 7% – 8% of the secondary market in 2016, Bordeaux and Burgundy are now trading blows, swapping back and forth on the Liv-Ex for the largest proportion of secondary market trades, both representing around 30% of the market. Overall Bordeaux seems to still be on top, but it is by the thinnest margins. That said, as market segments they are extremely different… If you are interested, here is a good explainer. 

There is significant market opportunity in the coming months – Rare Wine Invest and WineFi have both published recent articles which show “cautious optimism” about the markets, with Rare Wine Invest citing the highest bid to offer ratio (1.1) since the height of the market in October 2022 (a number above one means more bids than offers, an indication of strong buyer demand) and “six consecutive months of gain.” Likewise, WineFi describes the market recovery as “broad-based but uneven” with Champagne and older-vintage Bordeaux showing renewed demand and Burgundy prices showing “showing early signs of stabilisation”. Ultimately Rare Wine Invest sums this up best,

“While broad acceleration is yet to come, today’s prices offer an attractive entry point for long-term portfolio growth.
For investors willing to act strategically, this extended period of cautious stability presents an attractive window to acquire exceptional wines at favourable levels – particularly because when momentum returns, the most sought-after bottles tend to move quickly…”