Selling a €180,000 Bottle: Inside the World of Wine Auctions with Amayès Aouli

Summary

In this episode of Dolia Talks, Giovanni Binello interviews Amayès Aouli, Global Head of Wine & Spirits at Bonhams, to understand what wine auctions reveal about the wider market and how fine-wine value is actually created. Amayès describes auctions as the industry’s most transparent “barometer”, especially when the market softens, showing which producers and regions hold value and which decline, while noting that, counterintuitively, transaction volume has been strong even as the broader fine-wine market has cooled. He outlines key macro shifts: Burgundy’s long rise (driven by inherent rarity and collectability) and the globalisation of demand, with Hong Kong’s zero-duty status accelerating Asian buying since 2008 alongside the US as a highly sophisticated pillar market. On US tariffs, he says it’s too early for definitive conclusions, but initial signals include strong US auction results, stock already in-country cushioning impact, and emerging use of bonded storage; he also notes the complexity added by high-quality domestic US production. Amayès argues “fine wine” is defined less by price than by the intersection of terroir, winemaker, global recognition and long-term consistency, and he cautions against treating wine as a straightforward investment vehicle, its sensitivity, logistics and time horizons make it ill-suited for quick flips, with value typically accruing over decades and often as a by-product of passion rather than intent. For producers, he stresses that aiming “to be at auction” is the wrong goal; the real aim is to be genuinely appreciated over time, with auction prices merely a transparent consequence. He reframes “marketing” as storytelling in its broadest sense, books, tastings, hospitality, cultural projects, and selective experiences, rather than just modern digital campaigns, and explains Bonhams’ buyer base spans younger collectors starting out, mid-career buyers building volume, and older collectors selling or buying selectively. Looking forward, he sees opportunity for new, independent producers to rise faster thanks to technology and direct access, expects overall alcohol consumption to keep declining while quality rises, flags the Middle East as a major future growth region, and emphasises that auctions ultimately reward rarity and ageing potential, making some formats (like no/low wines that may not age) less suited to the fine-auction ecosystem, before closing on wine’s unique role as a luxury good designed to be “destroyed” into memory when opened.