2011 predicted to be a good year for fine wine investment

Château Haut-Brion 2006 is expected to smash through the £5,000 per case mark by Christmas, a rise of 30%, and the average market growth for investment wines is projected at 20%.

According to Premier Cru Fine Wine Investments, the world’s leading fine wine investment adviser, stocks are continuing to reduce as key buyers in Asia remain particularly active.

'After a robust 2010 performance in the fine wine market, which saw an average market growth increase of around 50% year on year, we expect continued market growth in fine wine, as wine stocks continue to reduce and as key territories in Asia continue to follow suit with the European investment community,’ said Stacey Golding, co founder and investments director of Premier Cru Fine Wine Investments.

‘There are key indicators that the vintage to watch for 2011 is going to be Château Haut-Brion 2006, by far the most cost effective first growth in today's market,’ she explained.

The vintage is currently available for purchase at an average UK price of £3,950 per case of 12 bottles. ‘The price has already risen by around 12% since November 2010, and we envisage the rise to continue at an exponential rate. We as a specialist investment house will be featuring this fantastic vintage in many of our client portfolios throughout 2011, a year which we anticipate the price to rise to at least £5,000 per case,’ she added.

Robert Parker, a leading US wine critic with an international influence and a 100 point wine system, who scored the vintage 96 out of a possible 100, has confirmed the quality of the wine. ‘The 2006 Haut-Brion performed even better from the bottle than it did from the barrel. It possesses superb concentration, and the minerality/scorched earth notes of a great Haut-Brion,’ he has said.

According to Golding the price prediction is a conservative estimate and she recommends it as suitable for the medium to low risk investor. She also pointed out that even during the financial crisis, those clients that chose to follow advice of a minimum three year investment term were in profit.

‘In the last 12 months we have increased our client portfolio by 25%, a testament to not only our 18 year track record and first to market in this tax free alternative investment, but reflective of an all time high in terms of interest, as investors seek to diversify their portfolios and invest in tangible and more stable  investments,’ said Golding.

Fine wine investments are not regulated under the Financial Services Act 1986. The value of fine wine is subject to fluctuation. Premier Cru Fine Wine Investments was formed with the specific intention of offering structured investments to people with little or no knowledge of fine wines.

The idea of creating a pure investment company of this kind came in 1992 when one of the founder members of Premier Cru Fine Wine Investments was introduced to a National Insurance Contributions discount scheme utilising fine wine. Due to the stability of the wine markets, it was possible to offer prospective clients a guarantee that they would receive 100% of quoted values.

Other companies had been using Gold and Diamonds. However, fluctuations in those markets often caused clients to sell at a loss making the whole scheme pointless. Although we were not interested in an NIC discount scheme, a Tax Free Stable Market seemed the perfect basis for an investment.

Research started mid 1992 and in mid 1994 Premier Cru Fine Wine Investments launched its first Investment Portfolio. The Company's development team, which has over 60 years combined experience in the Financial Services and fine wine industries, has designed its plans by taking the best features and benefits from standard Financial Industry Investment products and removing the common drawbacks of those schemes.

In doing so, Premier Cru Fine Wine Investments has created what is now generally considered to be the most tax efficient and fully flexible range of investment plans available on the open market today.  The Company does not charge exit fees or early redemption penalties.