• are long lived – with a maturity plateau of 20 years or more
• are sought after wine by the wine consumer
• have an outstanding Brand
• have a Robert Parker Score of 94 and above
• are from a great vintage.

Longevity

Jancis Robinson has written about the maturation of wine, most notably in her book ‘Wine Vintage’ published in 1989. On her website she bemoans the fact that there is not more education about how wines age and when they should be drunk. Most wines are drunk either too young due to impatience or lack of storage. Knowledge of how a particular wine will age is key to the collector.

The aging knowledge essential for a Winevestor is a little different. When will a particular wine go up in value, when will it plateau and when will it decline? The basics are the same as for the collector. You should only live long lived wines for investment purposes. This counts out 95% of all wines which are designed to be drunk over the first few years. It also the reason that the majority of IGW is Bordeaux, known for its long life

In-Demand

IGW must follow basic investment principle – there should be a lot of demand and a known and small supply. Bordeaux is an example of demand being the investment driver. The First Growth Bordeaux are all IGW. Over the centuries they have produced wines of a consistently high quality and their brand is known outside the wine world. For the undiscriminating Winevestor the easy money is made by buying the first growths; however, you have to have a lot of mullah. These are the equivalent of the blue chip stocks. Like every other investment portfolio they must be balanced by other wines with different risk profiles.

On the supply side are the Californian cult wines. Wines like Screaming Eagle have a very low supply (150 cases/year). They have winemakers who are as famous as rock-stars and allocation lists which are difficult to get on.

Great Vintage

IGW is only created in great vintages. This is especially so in France (Bordeaux and Burgundy), but has implications elsewhere as well. In Bordeaux, the following years can be defined as great vintages and should be the only ones to buy: 1961*, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1982*, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1990*, 1995, 1996, 2000*, 2003, 2005. The asterisk indicates essential vintages.

Parker Score

It is amazing the power this one person has on the price of wine. Ever since the 1982 when he ‘called’ the vintage and won a loyal following, Robert Parker has more influence on the price of a bottle of IGW than any other factor. By giving a rating of 94 and above, the wine is going to be in demand and the wine prices shoot up accordingly. From an investment perspective this is a great roadmap. Follow the other factors laid out above and then choose a wine with a RP rating of 94 or above. There is a lot of angst in the wine tasting world about consumers chasing wines with a high RP score. From the point of view of investment, the Winevestor is crazy not to use this as a key buying characteristic.

Other Winefluencers do have an affect. The Wine Spectator in the US and Jancis Robinson in the UK are influential. The best strategy is to choose wines that not only have a high RP score, but that also scores well with WS and Jancis Robinson Robinson as well.

Each of these Winefluencers is covered in the separate Winefluencer section.