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I was watching a couple of new, very different, videos on wine investing and realized that it was time to go back to basics and describe what Mr Everyman’s approach to wine investing, or winevesting can.be. A quick review of the two videos first.

Gary Vaynerchuk recently had Adrian Lenegan of Provenance Fine Wines on the show to talk about wine investment.

Key points from the show:

Gary has got to stop interrupting and let his guests talk! I know he is the star of the show, and is hilarious, but it would be good to hear his guests. My favorite Wine Library shows are his tasting shows without guests.
Parker is still the man when it comes to wine investing especially in Bordeaux
Social media, of which the videos are part, is starting to be used in wine investing
Provenance Fine Wines is differentiating by using social media
Jancis Robinson is the most regarded critic in the trade, but not by consumers and not by wine investors
The suggestion that Parker does his scoring on video – a great idea, but unlikely
Lafite 2008 doubled in price after Parker’s surprising vintage score
Rise of the six bottle case so that people can buy for investment with less money
Laws in the US are ‘prohibitive’ for wine investment
Lenegan is an entrepreneur rather than very knowledgeable in the tasting of wine. The Vayniaks took him to task after the show for this, but for real wine investment the research should be on the price histories rather than taste.
Very odd choice of 2006 Pousse D’or Corton Clos Du Roi for the tasting. This is not an investment wine!
The question (carefully thought out) was if you were to tie a wine to a specific Beatle what and who would be the connection. Good question, but mainly off-the-cuff answers. My favorite was from Erol: John: Chateau Le Pin – When on its game can make you cry. Paul: Stag’s Leap – Was great, but now no one knows what’s going on. Ringo: Charles Krug – Constantly overshadowed but likable. George: Clos des Papes – Underappreciated greatness.

In a very different vein was a video by CNBC which interviewed some of the top wine critics, including Serena Sutcliffe and Jancis Robinson. The presentation, as expected, was more conventional, dryer and more informative. Here were the key points:

There is a correlation between the wine market and the financial market right now, which is new
Provenance is key – interesting insight into Octavian Vaults in the UK
Comparison between wine funds and buying yourself from auction
China is the driver currently for the wine market (this is becoming a mantra)
Lafite, Petrus and Cheval Blanc are big wine investment players
Assets in the Wine Asset Managers Fund were down 17%, then level and then recovered 6% giving a total loss so far of 11%. This is still significantly better than the financial market which in most cases is still down around 20 to 25%
The phenomenon of Lafite in China
Liv-Ex is giving transparency to the market.

Both videos are interesting to watch, but are really full of either auctioneers or wine fund managers claiming that you need their help to choose wine for investment. It really struck me about how similar this is to the financial markets:

Starting out an individual will buy wine and save some of what they buy to sell later
If they get passionate they will go to auction and buy more
If they go over the top they will look into a wine fund

Each additio

10/4/2009 | Winefluencers | Post comments | View comments | (1)