The investment question

Fine wine has outperformed most conventional asset classes over thirty years when measured by the Liv-ex indices. The 2000 Bordeaux vintage bought en primeur. The 2005 and 2009 vintages. The great Burgundy producers across multiple decades

These are documented returns of a kind that few alternative asset categories can match. The caveats are real. Fine wine is illiquid relative to financial assets. Transaction costs in the auction market are significant

Storage costs compound over time. The market for specific wines is subject to taste shifts that can devalue even objectively great producers. The honest advice is that wine collected with genuine knowledge of the specific producers and vintages, stored correctly, and held with patience, is a reasonable component of an alternative asset strategy for someone who also enjoys drinking what they own.

CollectorGrade take

Fine wine as an investment only makes sense if you have genuine knowledge of the specific wines you are buying. Generic exposure to the Bordeaux or Burgundy market without that depth of knowledge produces undifferentiated returns at best. Collect what you know and drink what you collect.