Do you buy wine to drink, or to invest/collect?

When you make a wine purchase, are you often thinking "I can't wait to drink this", or do you ponder "I wonder how much this will improve with age so I can drink it at it's peak"..or lastly "I think this will triple in value".

If you are thinking investment....how do you determine which wine is worthy of an investment, and which is not?

Thanks!

-Mike

Just the first two, depending on the bottle. Never have "invested".

John

When you make a wine purchase, are you often thinking "I can't wait to drink this", or do you ponder "I wonder how much this will improve with age so I can drink it at it's peak"

Those two answers can often occur simultaneously.

If you are thinking investment....how do you determine which wine is worthy of an investment, and which is not?

The short/snarky answer is something is worthy of an investment if you think the value will rise over time

More seriously, I'm not big on wine investment but it seems like there are two broad approaches. One would be to pursue the top names which are highly sought after in most vintages. If you can buy them early at the 'release price' then you can assume/hope that they go up in value over time as there are fewer bottles remaining and as they approach peak. The other strategy would be to invest in winemakers that are not yet famous but have the potential to become famous. This requires a lot more guess work/intuition.

I've never sold a single bottle of wine but I now have a son in college and there's a bunch of First Growths in the cellar that could make a huge dent in the tuition bill.

Unless something really bad happens I don't plan to sell any. I also question whether anyonee pays the prices you sometimes see advertised. For example would anyone really pay me $1,000 per bottle for '89 Haut Brion?

I definitely buy wine to drink, definitely have bought to collect (if we mean "collect" as just enjoyably buying bottles to fill up and decorate a cellar with more than one selection). I would also be lying if I said I haven't bought some bottles where I don't casually wonder what the general "market value" might reach at some future time. Only if I bought a bottle or two from a notably great vintage of course. I think that's just curious human nature. Much like one would periodically wonder what a bar of gold is worth if one was to show up at your door and you kept it in the house all the time...

But I never buy wines to invest. Life is too short. I don't want to look back and say I made "profits" on something like wine. I want to say I enjoyed it and shared great memories of it in action. But what do I know...

Jeff

I've never sold a single bottle of wine but I now have a son in college and there's a bunch of First Growths in the cellar that could make a huge dent in the tuition bill.

Unless something really bad happens I don't plan to sell any. I also question whether anyonee pays the prices you sometimes see advertised. For example would anyone really pay me $1,000 per bottle for '89 Haut Brion?

I'm with Tom on this. I don't think I'll ever sell a bottle of wine but I do like to buy a high percentage (30% or so) of wine that will keep for years. I buy these based on what I've read, both on this forum and in wine magazines, what I've heard from friends and somewhat on what I've tasted.

I buy some wine to drink now, and some with idea of cellaring for improvement. I've never bought with idea of selling, though I have bought NOW because I felt it was likely to appreciate, and I'd rather buy (for later drinking) at the lower price.

Aside from wines that I buy to taste because of my work (and those purchases funded by my various publishers), the wines I buy personally are entirely for my drinking pleasure. And that regardless of whether these are bottles for immediate or short-term drinking or for long-term cellaring. It is only logical that I will purchase some of those wines quite early on in order to avoid the ever-increasing price spiral but even then considerations are entirely personal.

As to long-term cellaring, one of the few advantages of attaining a certain age is that one no longer has to purchase wines that will be at the peak only in another 20, 25 or 30 years.]

Best
Rogov

Like others here, I've never sold a bottle of wine and the idea doesn't have appeal.

I have certainly seen more speculators come into wine during the recession. Perhaps evidence of the flight to tangible assets see in the past. Some will have success, some will be burnt. Oddly those that really enjoy and understand wine, generally don't care much for the investment side. Indeed as investment wines take off, many wine drinkers simply sigh and move onto an alternative.

As for cellaring, that for me is half of the fun of the hobby, that I know I have some decent wines slowly maturing and I enjoy the wait - odd I suppose in these days of instant gratification

regards

Ian

I give away quite a bit of wine but I have never sold a single bottle. I buy wine to drink, sometimes now, sometimes later or to give as a gift but always to drink.

Glenn

I also question whether anyonee pays the prices you sometimes see advertised. For example would anyone really pay me $1,000 per bottle for '89 Haut Brion?

I feel certain somebody would but that somebody would not be me.

Glenn

When you make a wine purchase, are you often thinking "I can't wait to drink this", or do you ponder "I wonder how much this will improve with age so I can drink it at it's peak"..or lastly "I think this will triple in value".

I doubt that there a many, if any, people here who would cop to the third option. After all, this is the WineLovers Discussion Group, not the WineInvestors Discussion Group.

Mark Lipton

Mike,
I got on many of the California cult lists very early on and, at first enjoyed them. When I began to enjoy them less and the secondary market prices went up, I sold them.
So I never really bought for investment but found that, at some point, what I didn't want to drink had increased in value. If you will, no preconcieved notion just a fortunate eventuality.
Now, I only buy for enjoyment, be it today or tomorrow. And many of those purchases are/were made with the money from selling what I didn't like.
Best, Jim

[Jenise]

Mike, I don't think you'll find many on this board who buy to sell. Some friends of mine do--they're either like Florida Jim and fell into it, or they paid attention early and got onto the right mailing lists. "The right mailing lists" generally consists of a wine or wines that Robert Parker frequently gives north of 95 points to and has annointed with at least one 100 pointer along the way. Small production and mailing-list-only acquisition are the other two factors in the equation. You know, simple supply and demand stuff. It's easy to find out what those wines are--just subscribe to Parker's Advocate. It's much harder to guess which wines are going to be the Parker darlings of tomorrow, and you'd have to spend a small fortune to amass all the candidates such that you get one or two for the 10 or 12 you get wrong. Those wines are never the under $50 bottles. Heck, anymore they're not even the under $100 bottles.

I buy wine to drink. Or at least, to cellar until they're ready to drink, but selling never crosses my mind.

[Jenise]

Mike, I don't think you'll find many on this board who buy to sell. Some friends of mine do--they're either like Florida Jim and fell into it, or they paid attention early and got onto the right mailing lists. "The right mailing lists" generally consists of a wine or wines that Robert Parker frequently gives north of 95 points to and has annointed with at least one 100 pointer along the way. Small production and mailing-list-only acquisition are the other two factors in the equation. You know, simple supply and demand stuff. It's easy to find out what those wines are--just subscribe to Parker's Advocate. It's much harder to guess which wines are going to be the Parker darlings of tomorrow, and you'd have to spend a small fortune to amass all the candidates such that you get one or two for the 10 or 12 you get wrong. Those wines are never the under $50 bottles. Heck, anymore they're not even the under $100 bottles.

I buy wine to drink. Or at least, to cellar until they're ready to drink, but selling never crosses my mind.

I have always bought wines that I intended to drink but having an interest in a wine store it has been easy for me to sell off some wines I've owned over the years that have attained astonomical prices and I don't even particularly like. To each his own palate!

[David M. Bueker]

I have traded countless bottles, but I buy to drink and share, not for profit.

I only buy wine to drink. It may be drunk right away, or at least, soon after purchase - or it might go into the dark cupboard in the centre of the house to age some more - or I might give it to someone as a gift. But investing in wine as an appreciable asset with a view to selling it on later ... no. It doesn't interest me.

One look at what's in my basement and it's pretty obvious that I buy to drink, not to invest.

Never to invest or collect, always to drink. I tend to buy only wines ready to drink. The young ones I open myself are few and far between - mostly they are given to me or I buy them to test them out.

I've only sold one on one occasion - when I moved from Tennessee to Oregon I couldn't bring - or ship - everything. I sold off some Bordeaux from the late 80s, early 90s and some older CA cabs. Mostly on Wine Commune. (kept my Monte Bellos and '90 Montrose, though).

Wow..some great replies....thanks for sharing your thoughts everyone!

-Mike

I tried wine speculation just once - turned out being a horrible experience, and will never try it again. I do by wines to cellar, but only for my own future pleasure.

[Jenise]

I tend to buy only wines ready to drink.

No cellar or no attention span?