What types of wines rise in value?
Not all wine is 'the wine of kings and the king of wines’. Commercial styles are made for early drinking and seldom improve with age. Passion wines often do mature and improve over time but rarely change hands at escalating prices. Investment wines need an established reputation and a long life over which to mature and develop complexity, which makes people willing to pay more over time. They are very limited in supply yet enjoy a well-developed secondary market with sufficient liquidity and volume – key features which set investment wines apart from many age-worthy passion wines.
Keeping passion wines in the cellar is natural for enthusiasts and provides pleasure. Investing in wines, however, benefits more from rational rather than emotional choice. It is the equivalent of buying shares in Nestlé, Apple or Louis Vuitton: you might be a passionate customer or not, but buying stocks should be an investment decision. Skilful selection can leave wine investors with the positive outcome of financing their passion.