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The markets may be in meltdown, but fine wine remains a tasty long-term investment. Tim Atkin on the bottles to bank on
* Tim Atkin
* The Observer,
* Sunday October 5 2008
* Article history
Is now a good time to invest in wine? As the credit crunch continues to squeeze our spare cash, the question might sound faintly silly - like worrying about your toenails when your leg's about to be amputated - but I mean it seriously. It's hard to open the financial pages without reading about the profits to be made from wine.
'Wine investments are offering a more reliable return than FTSE-100 shares,' claimed one magazine recently. A cynic might say that leaving your money under the bed would offer a better return at the moment, but there's some truth to that statement. You'd be mad to invest money in commodities, shares or property, but if you choose the right wines you might make a handy profit.
I say might, because there are signs that the market is beginning to plateau. Investment journalist John Stimpfig says, 'There is a question mark over how long wine can remain immune from what's going on in the financial markets.' My guess is that a redundant, wine-loving Lehman Brothers trader would rather sell off a dozen cases of 2000 Château Lafite than lose his house. The situation is currently very volatile. Despite what wine merchants and fine wine fund managers might say, no one knows what will happen to prices over the next year.
What is more certain is that, over time, fine wine generally shows a return of around 12% per annum, although some bottles do much better than that. If you'd bought the 1982 Château Pétrus in 1983 it would have cost you £300 a case. It is currently worth around £32,000. How do you know which châteaux to follow? Well, in investment terms, the definition of fine wine is very narrow. For a list of the top 100 properties, nearly 95% of them from Bordeaux, have a look at www.liv-ex.com, which tracks these things on a daily basis.
If you're thinking of putting some money into wine, follow 10 simple rules: 1. Buy the best Bordeaux (the First Growths, the Super Seconds and the top St Emilions and Pomerols) from the best vintages. 2. Always deal with a reputable wine merchant or broker (have a look at www.investdrinks.org for a list of companies to avoid). 3. Compare prices before you buy. 4. Consider the services of a regulated wine investment fund, such as the Vintage Wine Fund (www.vintagewinefund.com), Wine Asset Managers (www.wamllp.com) or Magnum Fine Wines (www.magnum.co.uk). 5. Buy your wine as early as possible, preferably en primeur. 6. Leave it in bond, so that you don't pay duty or VAT. 7. Use a professional storage company. 8. Be aware that you are taking a risk. 9. Buy the wines that the powerful American critic Robert Parker likes. 10. Remember that you can always drink your investment.
My tenth point may be the most important. Over the years, I've bought and sold a few cases (usually too early or too late), but I fundamentally believe that wine is meant to be consumed, not traded. The world of the wine investor is so far removed from the world of the genuine wine lover that the two belong to different universes.
If you're thinking about doing the former, make sure you've got something to drink, too. Four bottles that have excited me recently are the raisiny, mature, multi-dimensional Taste the Difference 12-Year-Old Pedro Ximénez (£7.19 per 50cl, 18%, Sainsbury's); the racy, refreshing, subtly oaked 2005 Montsant Old Vines Garnacha (£8.99, 14%, Marks & Spencer), which has to rate as one of Spain's greatest red-wine bargains; the waxy, toasty, grapefruity, Semillon-based 2006 Château Le Chec, Graves (£9.75, 12.5%, Adnams, 01502 727 222); and, last of all, the smooth, powerful, sun-drenched 2006 Benmarco Malbec, Dominio del Plata, Mendoza (£11.99, or £8.99 each for two, 14%, Majestic). These four wines won't make you rich, but I guarantee you'll love drinking them.
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