Sotheby’s sees growth with strong engagement from younger generations

By Oliver Catchpole

Published: 13 March, 2026

Auction house Sotheby’s has released its Wine & Spirits Market Report for 2025, detailing an overall growth in auction sales and a shift towards younger buyers.

Last year, the auction house’s sales reached $127.5m – a 12% year-on-year growth, and more than double the value sold in 2015, as Harpers reported.

In the wine market, one-third of all buyers were new to Sotheby’s, which it said reflected a “widening and increasingly engaged audience”.

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This was particularly noticeable in the consistent increase in engagement from younger generations, with 49% of buyers now under 50 (and half of those under 40).

Globally, bidder participation also increased, with bidders from 63 countries (up from 60 last year).

Sotheby's noted that the report is “a snapshot of a year defined by renewed global momentum and a rapidly expanding collector base”.

Nick Pegna, global head of Sotheby’s Wine & Spirits, added: “This success has been driven by a truly international buyer base, strong growth in new collectors, and our depth of expertise in presenting landmark single-owner collections.

“We are equally proud of the role we continue to play in prestigious charity auctions around the world.”

Demand across the global wine market remained fairly evenly distributed between EMEA (37% of buyers), the Americas (32%) and Asia (31%), with the highest-demand regions being the US (31% of total buyers), Hong Kong (21%), France (18%) and the UK (7%).

In terms of categories, Sotheby’s said there was a “clear shift” away from the previous market equilibrium, with Bordeaux nearly doubling its 2024 level, rising to 28% of sales, while Burgundy gained five percentage points, rising to 39% of auction sales.

Californian wines also performed strongly, coming in as the fourth highest-selling category at auction.

The top five wine producers were Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (17% of sales), Petrus (7%), Lafite (5%), Domaine Leroy + d’Auvenay (4%) and Mouton (3%).

Additionally, spirits continued to perform very well (as the third highest-selling category), earning 20% of the market share.

EMEA participation in the spirits market surged in 2025, tripling its share year on year to 21% (with South Africa now making up 10% of the global market).

Meanwhile, Asia (40% market share) and the Americas (39%) now stand almost level, compared to last year’s market shares of 57% and 36% respectively.

The top selling spirits producers of 2025 were The Macallan (18% of sales), Kweichow Moutai (16%), Van Winkle (7%), Karuizawa (6%) and the Glenlivet (5%).

Sotheby’s continues to raise money for charitable causes around the world, putting on auctions such as The Hospices de Beaune, Distillers One of One and the Cité du Vin.

The full report is avaliable here.

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