The golden rules for investing in prestigious bottles
One must decide the budget and if the bottles are a financial speculation or a wine lover’s dream, in any case a special cellar is necessary
Wines for investing in
Read for you by Donatella Cinelli Colombini
The tactic to be used for wines for investment changes according to how much can be spent. If there is a lot of money and the intention is that of financial speculation then the web sites to be consulted are Liv-EX with its quotations of the 100 strongest and most expensive in the world, and Wine-searcher to buy them at the best price anywhere in the world. My advice is to bet on stable values maybe choosing some Italian brands, as the French chateaux recently have not received the same remuneration as ours. I would like to point out Le Macchiole, in Bolgheri with an extraordinary quality level and Ornellaia, the Frescobaldi cellar which has seen its quotations double from 2007 to today bettering everyone else even in the auctions. Such an extraordinary success that the bottles of Ornellaia are considered an investment even better than gold, as Luciano Ferraro has underlined in his blog Di vini.
For these bottles it is of no importance if the owner is an expert and even less if there is a correspondence
Masseto
Between his tastes and the wine he buys. It is only necessary to have the eye of a broker and to guess which brands will increase most in value, the same as on the stock Exchange with bonds.
Maybe it is not exactly fun but there are earnings: since 2005 until today the value of the 100 brands quoted by Liv-EX has grown by 130%. How many shares have done the same?
A completely different situation on the other hand for the wine lover who wants to transform his passion into a way of earning, or getting a small supply to be used for dinners, tastings or important gifts. In this case too it is important to have a cellar with no odours and with 16-18°C constantly and 80% in humidity. Another important necessity is time, because the revaluation of the bottles will need years and years. Finally there is the need for curiosity, a talent scout’s nose and an excellent ability in tasting.
Petrus
So here are the golden rules for having a cellar which pays back:
Do not follow the trend of the moment; wines which are supported by a heavy marketing action might be illustrious mister no-ones in twenty years time.
Go and see the wineries and vineyards of origin. To produce
Frescobaldi presents his research regarding wines to be invested in
wine apt for a long ageing it is necessary to have suitable soil, well equipped cellars and solid expertise. One must not listen much and watch a lot.
Buy only excellent vintages preferably in the Riserva versions.
Buy the wines at the beginning of their commercialisation, and never more than two years since they have been put on the market.
“The deal of the century” of old bottles at prices much lower than the present ones, is advisable only when the wine is to be consumed straight away, because sometimes it has been store incorrectly, standing up , in the heat and in the light….. and in fact
Never buy wines that have been kept in the shop window.
Let your own tastes guide you, only do consider elements such as tannins, acidity and structure….imagining their evolution in future and no the present day reality.
Keep constantly up to date but keep present that certain consolidated brands-such as Barolo and Brunello or Gaja and Antinori – have lesser increases but also lesser risks with respect to emerging denominations or wineries.
Have a spending limit and have fun as if in a treasure hunt. The wine lover is really clever when he discovers a great wine before it becomes famous and is able to buy it at affordable prices. Only in this way, in 15 years time, he can leave is friends speechless offering them a dinner with bottles fit for princes for which he really didn’t spend much at all.
The positive aspect of wine talent scouts is just this.