French digital marketplace iDealwine ended 2024 with revenue of €53.2 million (ex-VAT), a 6 percent rise that marks its best year yet. The auction arm led the charge, jumping 15 percent to €39.1 million on the back of 261,465 bottles traded—an 18 percent volume increase despite a softer secondary-market backdrop.
Average hammer prices eased slightly to €149 per bottle, but Burgundy held firm at €250. The year’s top lot was a 2020 Romanée-Conti that reached €20,375, highlighting how the label’s rarity shields it from the broader price cooling affecting other blue-chip names such as Grange des Pères, Armand Rousseau, Rayas and Clos Rougeard.
Supply unlocked after a year of collector reticence: many cellars stayed shut in 2023 and swung open in 2024, boosting the flow of high-profile bottles and tempering prices. Buyers remain wary of young Bordeaux only because they prefer not to cellar wines for two decades, not from any regional backlash—mature claret still moves quickly.
Demand is increasingly regional. Singapore focuses on Bordeaux, Italy hunts rare Champagne, and U.S. collectors gravitate to ultra-niche, often natural cuvées, with Muscadet star Jérôme Brétaudeau drawing particular attention. Burgundy’s Pinot Noir and Chardonnay continue to captivate Asia at large.
To capture this global appetite, iDealwine expanded again in April 2025, opening a New York office to complement Paris, Bordeaux, Beaune, Hong Kong and Singapore.