Nathan Wilson
03/09/2026
What Investors Need to Know
The Champagne market is showing credible signs of stabilisation after its sharp post-pandemic correction. Shipments remain below their peak, but the decline slowed considerably in 2025, several export markets returned to growth and leading houses outperformed the wider category. Most importantly for investors, the Liv-ex Champagne 50 is rising again.
This is not yet a complete recovery. It may, however, offer more attractive buying levels for selective Champagne investors.
| Indicator | Latest figure | What it suggests |
|---|---|---|
| Global shipments in 2025 | 266.1 million bottles | Down approximately 2%, following much larger previous falls |
| Exports in 2025 | Nearly 152 million bottles | International demand remained resilient |
| UK shipments | Up 1.9% to 22.7 million bottles | First annual increase since 2021 |
| Liv-ex Champagne 50 | 507.8 | Up 3.1% year to date and 3.3% over one year |
| Laurent-Perrier Champagne sales | Up 4.2% to €294.8 million | Leading brands are outperforming |
| Prestige-cuvée exports | Down 17% in 2025 | The recovery remains selective |
Yes, but “early stabilisation” is more accurate than “full recovery”.
The Comité Champagne reported shipments of approximately 266 million bottles in 2025, around 2% below 2024. That followed declines of roughly 8% in 2023 and 9% in 2024 as the post-pandemic surge unwound.
Exports held close to 152 million bottles, while the French market accounted for around 114 million. The UK returned to growth, and markets including Canada, Japan, Hong Kong and South Africa also expanded.
Restaurants provide another positive signal. Reported on-trade sales grew approximately 9.9%, compared with 2.2% in retail. This matters because every bottle consumed permanently reduces future supply.
Demand is not returning evenly. Buyers appear to be concentrating on producers they know and trust.
Laurent-Perrier’s Champagne sales increased 4.2% to €294.8 million during the year ending March 2026. Pol Roger reported record UK sales of its Brut Non-Vintage, while Louis Roederer’s British distribution reportedly achieved volume growth of around 9% in 2025.
This is typical of an emerging fine-wine recovery. Capital rarely returns to every producer at once; established brands and wines with proven demand tend to move first.
The clearest investment signal comes from the secondary market.
The Liv-ex Champagne 50, which tracks recent physical vintages of the 16 most actively traded Champagnes, currently stands at 507.8.
| Period | Performance |
|---|---|
| One month | +1.4% |
| Year to date | +3.1% |
| One year | +3.3% |
| Two years | -7.2% |
| Five years | +8.7% |
Positive monthly, annual and year-to-date returns suggest that pricing is firming. The negative two-year figure shows that Champagne has not yet fully recovered from its correction.
That combination may be appealing: momentum has improved, but prices remain below their former peak.
Champagne prices rose rapidly during 2021 and 2022 as buyers chased allocations and new releases appeared at increasingly ambitious prices. By May 2024, the Champagne 50 had fallen 25.4% from its October 2022 peak.
Individual wines were repriced too. Dom Pérignon 2013 fell from its £1,830 release price to around £1,500 per 12 bottles. Cristal 2015 declined from £2,600 to approximately £1,850.
The wines did not lose their reputations or ageing ability; the price investors were asked to pay changed. That created more realistic entry points, although a lower price does not automatically make every bottle good value.
Investment-grade Champagne benefits from:
Consumption is particularly important. Bottles opened in restaurants and at celebrations continually reduce availability. Over ten or fifteen years, an acclaimed vintage can become much harder to source.
Investors must still assess the producer, vintage, critic scores, price history, liquidity, provenance and storage. A famous label alone does not guarantee a return.
Prestige-cuvée exports fell 17% to approximately seven million bottles in 2025, below their ten-year average. The Champagne 50 also remains down 7.2% over two years.
Weak consumer confidence, tariffs, exchange rates and overly ambitious new-release pricing could all slow further progress. The evidence supports selective buying, not a broad bet on every Champagne.
Dom Pérignon, Cristal, Krug, Salon, Bollinger, Pol Roger and Jacques Selosse regularly attract market attention. Each wine and vintage still needs to be assessed individually.
As Moncharm’s H1 2026 fine-wine analysis showed, recent gains remain concentrated among particular wines. Selection and entry price matter.
Champagne has not completed its recovery, but the market is healthier than during the steepest stage of the correction.
Shipments are stabilising, international demand is improving and the Liv-ex Champagne 50 has returned to short-term growth. That creates a more credible entry point than the overheated market of 2021 and 2022.
The opportunity remains selective. Investors should prioritise quality, liquidity and value rather than assume every Champagne will rise together.
To explore Champagne and other fine-wine opportunities, download Moncharm’s free wine investment guide or speak to our team.
The evidence points to early stabilisation. Shipment declines slowed in 2025, several export markets returned to growth and the Liv-ex Champagne 50 is positive over one month, year to date and one year.
Nobody can identify a market bottom with certainty. Recent Liv-ex performance is encouraging, but the index remains negative over two years and prestige-cuvée exports are still weak.
Selected wines can offer global demand, ageing potential, liquidity and declining supply through consumption. Performance varies significantly by producer, vintage and purchase price.
Prices rose too quickly during the post-pandemic boom. Weaker demand, stock adjustments and ambitious release pricing then contributed to a multi-year correction.
Focus on proven producers, highly rated vintages, sensible valuations, strong provenance and established secondary-market demand.
10 Sep 2026
