There is a debate about buying wine for investment. This can be categorized by the Purist versus the Pure Investor.

The Purist thinks that wine speculation is bad. It pushes up the price of top wines for everyone. This camp claims the moral high ground as a pure and passionate hobby like wine collecting should not be sullied by using it to build wealth on the backs of the poor oenophile who cannot now afford the wine.

The Pure Investor is always looking for ways to diversify a portfolio. It used to be that the US stock market was un-correlated to foreign stock markets. This is on the decline with a change in one major market, being mirrored by similar changes in other markets. Therefore investors have been on the hunt for other Alternative Investments that give them true diversification; that is investments that are not affected by each other. One symptom of this is the drive into commodities, natural resources and emerging countries. The other is a focus on collectibles such as art, coins, and wine. For the Pure Investor wine is another investment, part of their total portfolio, which boosts their return and lowers their investment risk.

While the Purist and the Pure Investor act as the two ends of the spectrum, there is a middle group who we will call the Pragmatists. Pragmatists have a passion for wine and know that it is an expensive hobby. They also know that to buy a wine when it first is on the market and then hold it for five, ten, twenty years, until it is ready to drink is part of the fun of the experience. It also stops you having to buy an aged, ready-to-drink wine at an exorbitant price. If you put more wine than you need down, you can then drink some and you can sell some, at a profit. The English used to have a saying that you put one case down for drinking, and another case down to pay for the one you drink. This way you can look your spouse in the eye and tell them that your hobby/vice is paying for itself. For the Pragmatist the planning and selling of wine becomes part of the broader experience of this fascinating hobby.

On this site, as we wish to service a ‘big tent’ of anyone interested in wine investment, we consolidate all of the above categories into one - the Wine Investor – defined as a person interested in wine and investing.