Wine: The magic potion of the European saver?

Who has never dreamed of owning an exceptional bottle, some of which are sometimes sold at stratospheric prices, such as this bottle of Romanée Conti 1945 sold in 2018 for €482,000?

If these examples only represent a tiny minority of investments in “red gold”, it must be acknowledged that the market has been rather dynamic in recent years. The Sotheby’s Wine index has consistently outperformed the S&P 500 since 2005, and shows that wine is a diversification investment to be considered carefully.

Like any market, it is preferable to know the subtleties and mechanisms before taking on exposure. If you are just starting out, choosing a trusted partner with expertise in wine is often a good idea.
For a commission, companies like CultWine or Patriwine offer investment cellars with interesting returns (between 7 and 10% / year depending on the track record), in a 100% off-the-shelf product.
You don’t store anything, you don’t do anything to yourself, they take care of everything.

Be careful though: this type of investment exposes you to a possible loss of capital.
Second disadvantage: the entry ticket is often prohibitively high (often around €200,000) in order to get the best conditions.

On this last point, the market has evolved a lot with the arrival of new players who promise to buy cellars “in common” thanks to very low entry tickets. The Diversified platform offers you the opportunity to become a co-owner of a cellar from €10 and will soon set up a secondary market to resell your stake. The ideal choice for a beginner to get their feet wet. Especially since cellar visits will be organised in the near future to enable you to quickly improve your knowledge of the subject.

Another approach is to lend money to wineries looking for investment. Although the returns are often less attractive and the commitment periods are quite long (several years), some systems allow for the payment of dividends in kind. It is always interesting to receive a bottle and combine investment and pleasure!

Finally, if you have the expertise (and could afford!), there is still direct ownership in your cellar. With a little patience you will have the choice in a few years to resell your bottles… or to enjoy them!