Wine Investment 

What constitutes a fine wine?

Fine Wine is defined as the most acknowledged and prestigious blue chip - exclusively French red wine produced by Châteaux from the Bordeaux region of France. The wines command a global consumer and investment following that provides an established marketability. Some of the most investment potential wines are the First Growth Chateaux, the majority of Second Growth Chateau along with selected other producers including some of those from St.-Emilion and Pomerol regions will always command a premium price then there are other wines and regions due to their quality consistency and their established resale history.

Why does fine wine go up in value?

Fine Wine is produced in strict finite quantities. The international demand for fine wine will advance whilst the supply of existing vintages is ever decreasing and the new production remains fairly static.
The international Fine Wine secondary market currently has an annual turnover in excess of US$1 billion.

What are the advantages of investing in wine?

Your investment will be: 

• Tax Free
• Low Risk: The Fine Wine market tends to be less volatile than financial markets and is less susceptible to market downturns and adverse economic conditions; only global recession tends to significantly affect wine prices. Still, Fine Wine has proven to be an effective hedge against recession, inflation and financial assets. Wine investment guru, Mahesh Kumar in his famous book, Wine Investment for Portfolio Diversification indicated that, portfolios consisting of Fine Wine have a higher expected return per unit of risk. He has further added that, holding Fine Wine is less volatile than equities for a given return.
  

How long should I expect to wait before realizing any returns?

Fine wines mature and improve with age and have a lifespan of up to 50 years (some will last for up to 100 years, which significantly increasing the potential for investment). There is a sharp rise for 6 to 18 months following the release of the wine, than the value stabilizes, or rises at the slower rate, until the wine becomes ready to consume (normally after 15 to 20 years). After this period, stocks start to diminish and prices start to rise once more. The wine then continues to mature and prices rise until the end of its life.

There are 3 optimum times to sell Fine Wines depending on the investor’s investment horizon:

• Buying early En Primeur and then selling 18 months later.
• Holding onto the wine until it is at peak maturity and then selling when the prices have notably reached their optimum price levels.
• Or, other Fine Wines offer greater potential for percentage price appreciation.

What sort of wines should I invest in?

Less than 1% of all the wines worldwide are investment grade and Bordeaux wines makes up 80% of these wines. The name Bordeaux had all been along synonymous with wine investment. Red Bordeaux has an established resale history and is still the primary investment medium. The Bordeaux 1855 Classification is a helpful guide for making your selections.

Do all wine investments make money?

Be careful when in investing in New World wines (Australia, California) unless you are really confident that you know what you are doing. Be particularly wary of cult wines which have little or no track record and whose high price often either reflects a high score from Robert Parker or the owner’s ego or a blend of the two.

Unlike Bordeaux wines prices which can be tracked the day it had been release during “En Primeur” offers to the latest wine auction, New World wines prices are usually disguised under the distribution, marketing and advertising mark up when they had been released to their buyers. Investors have experienced that sometimes the wines they have bought for investment are almost invariably worth far less than what the investors had paid for.

Moreover Fine Bordeaux wines are produced in strict finite quantities, which is the primary factor for the supply & demand theory to work on wine investment. Unlike New World wines which may increase their production level as and when for profitability.

How do I know if I am getting a good recommendation on the wine?

Do your homework and engage a reliable wine merchant like ASC Fine Wines, which have the track record in business for the last ten years in China for selling premium wines as well as the pioneer in offering “En Primeur” in China.

In addition, ASC is also posed the sounding financial background with their largest shareholder being the famous Gernot Langes Swaroviski, which ensured the company financially adequate. All these credential offer the buyer the necessary security and integrity toward their investment.

The team of fine wines expert in ASC don’t just tell you the name of the wine that they recommend for investment. They give you a full report on the characteristic of the wine, why they believe it is a great wine, previous track record, performance during past auctions and future growth potential.

How do I cellar the wine?

Upon the released of your “En Primeur”, we offered two years free storage for you to store your wine at the temperature/humidity controlled warehouse in Bordeaux. You can opt to continue to store for another two years in the same warehouse at the prevailing rate at that time or, we could assist you to ship back your wines to China or at ASC bonded facility in Hong Kong. Other option, we could also provide you the contact in London to continue to cellar your wines at their bonded facility.


How do I start my investment?

Please go to "Contact us" section or Click Here  to find out contact number of the ASC office in your region and call up our sales representatives for assistance.