Looking for investment wines

[winecollector]

Buying wine as a financial investment is quite a gamble. Odds are, your money would likely do better elseware. I originally got back into wine collecting for the investment because I ran out of room for classic cars, and a wine cellar takes up a lot less space! I soon realized (as many of the other responces you are receiving,) that it is difficult to "predict the future" of the wine business in knowing what to buy now to sell later. If you are still determined to invest in wine though, here is a couple of suggestions to keep in mind-

1. Buy only wines from spectacular vintages. For example, 1988, 89 & 90 were great years for the Piedmont wines of Italy and the best made ones (Barolo's, some Barberesco's, and others) should survive for years. 1997 is also a fantastic year for Tuscan wines, as well as 88 & 90, but you may be taking a chance keeping many of them beyond ten years. 1982, 89, and 90 Bordeaux's should also stand the test of time, as well as your better 1996 classified growths, generally speaking.

2. Stick with producers that are currently known for high quality and are in demand now. As people start drinking off their older bottles in years to come, it might drive the price up as supply is reduced.

3. Look at the past twenty years in the wine business, see what has skyrocketed in price, and figure out why. In California, you have the so-called "cult wines" that produce a very limited amount of wine. They have a large enough following to take a wine from its release of about $100 per bottle, to around $1,000 per bottle at auction (Screaming Eagle for one)in a very short amount of time. While you have a snowball's chance in um, fill in the blank, of getting you hands on Screaming Eagle at $110 a bottle, you could gamble on what may turn out to be the future "cult wines." I would recommend checking out the Wine Spectator they did this spring on "cult wines" and the suggestions they give on possible future cult wines. If not anything else, it's good reading.

4. Buy wines by the case. Auction houses are more willing to sell wines by the case for you than a couple of stray bottles. They also are more likely to fetch a higher bid that way.

5. Look for wines receiving "endorsements" or "high ratings" from wine publications. This can cause such a demand that the price will dramatically increase, such as with the 1996 Chateau St. Jean heralded in Wine Spectator as their #1 wine for 1999. It went from a listed price of about $26 prior to its release to over $40 three months later at its release. Who knows where it will go from here? Its still a gamble.

6. Last of all and most important, buy something that you personally enjoy drinking. Again, odds are that the vast majority of the wine you purchase will not bring you a substancial return, if any at all, on your investment. My recommendation is to invest in wine not for financial gain, but for your future enjoyment. And hey, if something you purchase now turns out to be the next Chateau Petrus twenty years from now, consider it a bonus!

On a personal note, something that I recently purchased more than doubled in price, at least in my area. A wine from Ausralia by the name of "Robertson's Well," the 1995 vintage, was something I stumbled onto by shear luck. They only made about 330 cases of Cabernet Sauvignon. I originally purchased one bottle to try, thinking it an everyday drinker. I opened it with friends after steak salads and a dinner wine, and it just blew us away. I went and bought 3 cases of it, but I really had to do some driving just to get that! Originally, I paid $6.49 a bottle for it, a real steal. One month later, I seen the same wine selling for $14.99 a bottle. I have not had a bottle of wine for under $30 a bottle from California that can even come close to the quality of this wine! Needless to say, I'll be watching this producer for the next several years, as I let a case of it age and consume the other two. If it eventually becomes valuable in the future, wonderful! If not, then I've got some sensational wine to drink for many years to come.

Either way, I win.