Alternative Outlook

Anyone who is concerned about the falling value of fine wines from the Bordeaux region should look at the price drop as an opportunity. That is according to Schroders senior adviser Alan Brown, who has suggested that a wine which has lost its value may well regain it over time. He said that investors should “take a long-term view,” and recommended that people should avoid buying high and selling low as “the price may recover in the long term”. Mr Brown said that wine investment is linked to what is happening on the stock markets as “p…

Since 1988, when reliable data first became available, the fine wine market has generated an annualised return of 12.1 per cent.

However, investment is about risk as well as return, and on this dimension too, wine performs well. Taking every five-year period since 1988, wine has shown a negative return in just one period – with a loss of only 1.1 per cent. By comparison, the FTSE 100 has seen 72 negative periods, with the worst being a loss of 39 per cent. Historically, fine wine has proved to be a low-risk asset class. To understan…

With the start of the busy autumn auction season seeing some notable sales prices achieved for legendary vintages from Bordeaux and Burgundy, one master of wine, Gerard Basset, believes more people could buy fine wine from the region over the coming months.

The evidence of resurgence in the wine investment market was on display in Hong Kong earlier this month, with Christie’s first Asian sale on September 8th, which generated an impressive sales total of £3,392,000 with 97 per cent sold by lot and 98 per cent sold by value.

On this occas…

Chris Munro, the director of Christie’s London Wine Department, has reaffirmed his belief that the demand among investors looking to buy fine wine from the Bordeaux and Burgundy regions of France remains strong.

The wine investment expert was speaking in the wake of the auction house’s recent sale of vintages from France and Spain, in the capital last Thursday (September 6th).

Held at the company’s King Street venue, the auction of fine and rare wines came from a large and impressively assembled private collection and proved popular with …

During this depression, it would appear that investors are no longer finding solace in turning to the bottle.

Fine wines are being hit hard by the global downturn, with the Liv-ex Fine Wine 100 index down 7.4 percent on the year, according to July’s Cellar Watch Market Report.

The Liv-ex Bordeaux 500 was down by 3.4 percent month-on-month - an especially disappointing showing given that the market is usually energised in June by new Bordeaux releases.

The close correlation of prices in wine and gold since 2004 …

When it comes to fine wines, French vintages from expensive and well-established vineyards commonly regarded as the best investment.

But investors should consider diversifying their portfolio across Italian, Australian and even Portuguese wines to avoid ‘putting their eggs in one basket’, a new study warns.

The value of a portfolio consisting solely of Burgundy and Bordeaux can be destroyed by a single year of bad weather.

Good investment? A new study suggests investors in fine wines are better off spreading their portfolios a…

When Hong Kong scrapped all taxation on alcohol sales in 2008, it sent the price of investment wine into the stratosphere. Tax cuts on wine purchases are now set to happen in India, so will a new flood of buyers reverse recent price declines?

Bordeaux first growths are the most traded commodity in the wine market – and the price has been slumping since March.

The Liv-ex Fine Wine 50 index tracks these young wines, and the recent decline has shown no sign of stopping. The index has plunged by almost 23pc over the past y…

As interest in alternative asset investment grows, investing in fine wine is becoming popular. With the traditional Bordeaux region a stable and predictable way to diversify and grow an investment portfolio is this a better option than backing Burgundy?

Wine investment

Following the great success of Burgundy’s 2010 vintage there has been a sharp rise in interest in it from those looking to invest in fine wine.

However, the Board of Premier Cru Fine Wine Investments Ltd. (“Premier Cru”), the world’s leading fine wine investment …

Are investors looking to Italian wines as the next big thing? Merchants are reporting growth, but whether the wines are being bought as investments remains to be seen.

Bordeaux Index reported a sales rise of 63% in Italian wine and said the country’s wines were becoming more attractive to investors. But other merchants, while acknowledging the popularity of some Italian wines, are doubtful that they are being bought for investment.

BI’s managing director Gary Boom said: “Italy now boasts fine wine producing areas and produce…

Wine prices are heading up again—only this time it’s Burgundy wines and not Bordeaux capturing all the headlines as recent Burgundy auctions have been setting records. According to a recent report from WineSpectator, “Move Over Bordeaux: Burgundy Steals the Show at Asia Auctions,” prices for the top Burgundy wines are rocketing higher.

“As a category, the 102 Burgundy listings tracked by the Wine Spectator Auction Index rose 16.42 percent from the third quarter of 2010 to the third quarter of 2011. Many wines fared even better,” sai…