The market for wine in a strange one. It is essentially a luxury product and yet millions of bottles are produced each year.A wine might be worth less than one ten years its junior, and whether a certain wine sells well or not can come down to a few people’s personal taste. One thing is certain though, there is a lot of money to be made from wine and now is a better time than ever to invest.
The prices of fine wines has been on the increase for the last couple of decades. As better storage facilities and more advanced manufacturing methods produce higher quality wines, so too does the price people are willing to pay for them go up.The wine expert as Sotherby’s, Jamie Richie actually commented that “Prices had risen to nearly unsustainable levels last April”.This has changed somewhat now however, as prices are starting to come back down during the struggling economy. In Jan (2009) there was a decline in prices of around 1.2 percent according to Liv-Ex 100, the index that tracks the top 100 collectable wines. This is trend that experts expect to continue for while and can in fact be seen throughout the wine sector, from wine production to the sales of standard shot glasses.
A bottle of Montrachet Domaine Romanee-Conti (1978) very recently got picked up at a Chicago auction for $3,500. The price of $23,929 was only a few years back at Sotherby’s for the same bottle of wine. This massive decrease in costs is allowing lots of people to pick up some great wines for their own personal collections or for investment, for only a fraction of previous prices.Experts agree that the wine sector will continue to drop until the end of this year when it will start to regain some power again. Tableware and drinking accessories are expected to improve as well.
Joss Fowler, a wine investment expert from Berry Bros & Rudd has some tips for getting the best return. He recommends that a very good bet is, and always has been, a Red Bordeaux as they age beautifully. Also, always go for the best vintage and don’t scrimp on cost, get the best you can possibly. Stick to this adage and you’ll be filling up your wine rack before too long.
