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.
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.
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.
