As Fine Wine Prices Drop, There Has Never Been A Better Time To Invest
It’s a pretty strange business, the wine game. It is essentially a luxury product and yet millions of bottles are produced each year.One wine may be 10 times as expensive as its cousin and wine popularity can be up and down like a roller-coaster. 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.
Fine wine prices have been rocketing upwards for many years now. As wineries continue to perfect their production methods and develop better storage facilities, the prices people pay for fine wines has crept up.Sotherby’s Jame Richie who works as the top wine professional there actually said “Prices had risen to nearly unsustainable levels last spring”.This has changed somewhat now however, as prices are starting to come back down during the struggling economy. March 2009 saw a relatively big downturn in prices averaging 1.2% according to Liv-Ex 100, the tracking index for the top 100 collectable wines. This is trend that experts expect to continue for while and can in fact be seen throught the wine sector, from wine production to the sales of general wine glasses.
A bottle of Montrachet Domaine Romanee-Conti (1978) very recently got picked up at a Chicago auction for $3,500. $23,929 was the price paid for that same wine only a couple of years previous at Sotherby’s auction. This sharp decline means that if you’ve ever wanted to start your own wine collection, either for your own consumption or as an investment, it will soon be the right time.The lowest point in that the market will face is predicted to be somewhere towards the end of the year. It should then be able to start gaining some speed again.
Wine investment expert, Joss Fowler has some words of wisdom for doing well. 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 little champagne flutes sooner than you think.
