Alternative Outlook

Pétrus is the most reliable label for fine wine returns according to Christie’s Anthony Hanson MW. Addressing attendees of the Fine and Rare Wine Specialist course at Vienna’s Palais Coburg on 2 July, Hanson analysed the price performance of a range of collectible labels before declaring, “The king has been Pétrus”.

Continuing, he said, “It has yielded an average annual return of 14% all the way through bull and bear markets – it is incredibly dependable as a château.” He added that Pétrus has produced “so many grea…

It might be tricky, when faced with a bottle of fine wine, to do anything other than open it and pour yourself a glass. But for those who can eschew instant gratification, wine can offer a fantastic investment. Through the stock market turbulence of recent years, fine wine has become a safe haven.

Over the last five years, the Liv-ex Fine Wine 100, which tracks the price of the world’s most sought-after wines, has outperformed leading benchmarks, including the FTSE 100 – rising 62% over the period, and 15% in the last two years. I…

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…

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…