Please enjoy the 2026 VDP Nahe/Rheinhessen and Der Ring auction results below – VDP at top and then Der Ring below. Note for the Ring auction we’ve only included the lots where we had active bids. To shop through our extra auction inventory, scroll dow
I think a lot of people, myself included, were curious where the VDP Nahe/Rheinhessen auction would go (again, the Mosel VDP auction will be held in May of 2027). In the mania of the post-pandemic era, prices grew wildly and what was once a rather geeky affair, a group of stamp collectors playfully debating the merits of one cask over another and raising our bids a Euro here and a Euro there, became a slick and international affair. We’ve for sure played a part in making it international, though I hope we’ve hampered it becoming too slick. We really try and keep the humanity, the magic of it all, alive. Anyway, this inflation isn’t unique to the auctions, or to wine in general – it’s everywhere. You’ve likely noticed this inflation.
So, with that said, one must acknowledge that prices are coming down. And if that feels deflating for the growers, I really don’t think it should. The prices at the VDP Nahe/Rheinhessen auction were still very plump and while I’ve never run a winery and don’t really understand the economics of all that, I think that the prices achieved still reflect a good, healthy profit for them. I hope that is the case. But the lower
All in all, it was a fine auction, though it did feel as if the energy was a little lower than in years past. Assuming my math is correct (and that’s an assumption one shouldn’t take lightly), I have prices overall being down about 5%. Regardless, down 5%, up 5%, it doesn’t really change all that much. In general, so many of these lots are so relatively inexpensive that a 5% change is rather immaterial. The Würzberg Kabinett “Vs” hammered last year at 18 Euro and this year plummeted a dramatic-feeling 22%. Yet this great fall is only 4-Euro difference; the wine hammered at 14 Euros. Conversely, the price for Loewen’s Kabinett “im Schneidersberg” ballooned 17% – meaning it went from 23 to 27. Maybe at the Ring auction in 2026 everything is a matter of four Euros?
It did feel to me as if lots were having a hard time even achieving lift off and never really went very far – too many lots, even with very reasonable opening bids, moved only a few Euros. The greatest shock for me was a 1975 von Beulwitz Nies’chen Spätlese, the opening bid of which was a ridiculous 17 Euro. In my great wisdom, I prepared my clients to face pricing that would likely end up around 100 Euro per bottle. The final hammer price? 27 Euro. While the wine got a very good Mosel Fine Wines review (93 points), I did text with a grower at the event and they said the bottle that was poured for them showed very mature. So, let’s blame that one to bottle variation? I bought a rather sizeable amount of this wine (holler orders@vomboden.com if you’d like some, see below!), so I’m hoping the bottle variation varies on the better side for all of us – though no give-backs.
But there are other examples. 2002 Kerpen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spätlese. Again, an absurd opening bid of 17 Euro, and with a worldwide audience the bidding only got up to 20 Euros. (I also bought extra there so hit me up.) This is patently absurd. 2015 Ludwig Klüsserath Bruderschaft Auslese: opening bid 20 Euro – hammered at 22. 2001 Kanzlerhof Pölicher Held Auslese: opening bid 15 Euro – hammered at 22. I know that these are hardly huge names and no one really knows the Bruderschaft or the Held (both are in my “Mystery Mosel“), but still.
In the end, I wonder if the VDP Mosel moving their auction to the spring changed things for the Ring? Did the a great number of Mosel buyers maybe refocus on the Rheinhessen-Nahe VDP auction, with plans to come back to the Mosel in May for the VDP Mosel auction? Or is it just the general malaise of the wine market, or something particular to wines with residual sugar or the Mosel at large? Most likely, as usual, it’s a blend of all of these things. While I suppose one could say, “well, this all means great values for the consumer!” and one wouldn’t be wrong, it all feels like a bit too much for me. There can be a great cost for too much “value,” and I fear the growers are the ones bearing these costs.
Shop!
We bought some extra bottles of the following wines – if you are interested email orders@vomboden.com
> 2024 AdamsWein Spätburgunder “1882” Auction – 42 Euro
> 2024 Loersch Apotheke GG Auction – 38 Euro
> 2025 Walter Marienburg “alte Reben” Kabinett Auction – 16 Euro
> 2025 Loersch Apotheke Kabinett Auction – 22 Euro
> 2002 Kerpen Sonnenuhr Spätlese Auction – 20 Euro wtf
> 1975 von Beulwitz Nies’chen Spätlese Auction – 27 Euro wtf
> 2015 Ludwig Bruderschaft Auslese Auction – 23 Euro
> 2006 Rebenhof Würtzgarten Beerenauslese Auction 375ml – 100 Euro