Wine is a lucrative investment for those who are willing to take the time to do the research and have a keen sense of the market.
The Wall Street Journal recently focused on trading in wine, something many wine fans have not thought about. Most who love wine keep a few bottles on hand that they enjoy and save them for special occasions or have the ones they like to pair with dinners. But wine can be far more prosperous than a perfect pairing.
While a traded commodity, wine is not regulated so it’s important to do your homework and know what you’re doing. Do a good amount of reading and studying. Follow competitions like the Japan Wine Challenge, which has done a good job of narrowing down regions to watch over the last few years. The competition has favored US and Australian wines over the last two years – and the market says the same. It may seem daunting but traded wines for investment purposes are only about 0.1% of the global wine market.
The key to trading wine is similar to anything else. What sells at a high price are rare bottles (do not invest in cases unless you know what you’re doing). Generally the initial price is the lowest at which it will sell so buying a newer rare bottle and holding onto it can yield sales. To get the most bangyou’re your buck, buy individual bottles and, when possible, buy directly from the vineyard to save on cost. Besides auctions there are online wine sales. Again, these are not regulated so it pays to do your homework.
Winedom is not a financial advisor and any information in this article is purely informational and should not be used as the basis to make investments.