Alternative Outlook

As the best vintages outperform every asset but gold, Julian Knight goes to Bordeaux to get a taste of the business.

The two-storey country house, modest compared with the other châteaux of the area, sits proudly underneath a perfect wide blue sky, surrounded by neatly trimmed vines festooned with lush red roses which would be any horticulturalist’s dream.

I am in Bordeaux, the spiritual home not just of French but world wine making. Opposite me, examining a vine with dexterity and not a small degree of tenderness, is Oliver Be…

The impact of value and brand focused purchasing of investment wine in China has led to a price growth spurt in five First Growths – Lafite, Latour, Margaux, Mouton and Haut Brion.

Throughout the closing months of 2010 Albany Portfolio Management predicted the success of these brands after paying close attention to the performance and buying behaviours of customers in the Asia region, which differ significantly to the traditional vintage focused purchasing of the West.

The pronounced difference in price between Lafite and the other…

Fine wine investors are being urged to exercise caution when buying “less prestigious second growth” wines, given the large volumes available and lack of growth in emerging markets, says Bordeaux Index.

Gary Boom, the firm’s founder and managing director, said: “Though the market for the less prestigious second growths is almost as buoyant , much of the heavy lifting is still being done by buyers from the UK.”

He warned: “With eight times the volume of wine available as for the first growths – and some genui…

January was a record month for fine wine investment with the Liv-ex 100 rising by 2.9 per cent and the Claret Chip by 3.4 per cent.Year-on-year, the indices were up 40.8 per cent and 52.4 per cent with the positive returns coming at a time when most stock markets were relatively weak.

The Wine Investment Fund (TWIF) claimed evidence has emerged that the market is in a new phase in terms of favoured brands.

Lafite, in particular, has underperformed the other first growths for two months in a row, and at precisely the time when Chine…