Wine prices in official statistics

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Wine in official statistics

What the government statisticians can tell you about wine: how the shelf price of an ordinary bottle has moved against inflation, shares and gold; what wineries charge and what growers are paid; and a worked example of the costs that a headline wine return leaves out.

The price of an everyday bottle

Governments track the price of an ordinary bottle of wine the same way they track bread and petrol. The chart below sets it against the cost of living, shares and gold.

This is the supermarket bottle, not the famous names. Fine wine has no official price index.

A bag of groceries and an everyday bottle of red wine on a kitchen counter

The shelf price of wine against inflation, shares and gold

Last 5 years Last 10 years Last 15 years

each line = 100 at the start of the windowSource: FRED · Financial Modeling Prep

Table wine is the average US shop price of a litre. Consumer prices is the US cost of living. The S&P 500 is shown without dividends. Gold is the price of an ounce in dollars.
Series	From	To	Start	Latest	Total change	Growth a year	Biggest fall from a peak	Up-and-down in a year
Table wine, US shelf price (BLS)FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis	Nov 2016	Sep 2026	$12.29	$13.77	+12.0%	+1.2%	−10.3%	4.4%
US consumer prices (CPI)FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis	Nov 2016	Sep 2026	242.0	336.3	+39.0%	+3.4%	−1.3%	1.0%
S&P 500 (price only)Financial Modeling Prep	Oct 2016	Oct 2026	2,141.2	7,718.9	+260.5%	+13.7%	−31.8%	17.6%
GoldFinancial Modeling Prep	Oct 2016	Oct 2026	$1,268	$4,165	+228.6%	+12.7%	−23.4%	16.0%

What a headline wine return leaves out

Try your own numbers →

Headline gain+80.0%10 years, before any cost

What is left after costs+20.3%after the costs listed

Headline growth a year+6.1%compound

Real growth a year+1.9%compound, after costs

Nobody earns a headline return. A collector buying at auction pays a buyer’s premium; buying at retail pays a margin; selling pays a commission; holding pays storage and insurance every year; and between the bid and the ask sits a spread. Add provenance, authenticity, breakage and the simple fact that wine can take months to sell.

Buyer’s premium or retail margin

10% on purchase

Seller’s commission

10% on sale

Storage

1.5% of value per year

Insurance

0.5% of value per year

Bid–ask spread, provenance, breakage, illiquidity

not modelled — all reduce the net further

These costs are typical, not exact. Auction fees usually run from 15 to 25 percent, and storage depends on where the bottles are kept. The Learn page has sliders for your own numbers.

Winery prices, grape prices and the shelf

sources →

Winery selling prices (US producer price index)

What US wineries charge for what they sell, as an index. Rising means wine leaves the winery dearer than before.

Latest: 206.1 (Aug 2026) · over a year −0.1% · fifteen years ago 162.1 · FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis PCU312130312130

Wine-grape prices at the farm gate (US producer price index)

What growers receive for wine grapes, as an index. It moves with harvest size and demand from wineries.

Latest: 119.3 (Aug 2026) · over a year −1.9% · fifteen years ago 100.0 · FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis WPU011102283

Table wine on the US shelf, price per litre

The average retail price of a litre of ordinary table wine in US cities, in dollars. The everyday end of the market.

Latest: $13.77 (Sep 2026) · over a year −1.4% · fifteen years ago $8.57 · FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis APU0000720311