Bordeaux or Burgundy?
The credit crunch, sub-prime mortgages and a little trouble at our local Northern Rock bank have been in the news. Stock markets have trembled, and financiers have asked questions about the best place to invest in a ‘squeeze’. Historically, fine wine prices have mirrored the ups and downs of stocks and shares. So what to do with a wine portfolio?
In a recent letter to the Financial Times, Colin Hay, Professor of Political Analysis at Sheffield University wanted to reassure shaky wine investors. He reminded readers of the fact that “fine wine investors are a rather diverse bunch and there are just as many who turn to wine when other asset prices are falling”.
Yet a conversation this week with ‘someone in the know’ shed a slightly different and more pessimistic light on this. It appears that Red Bordeaux, especially at the fashionable top end, has been the target of more speculation than is healthy, putting the market at risk. There’s plenty of wine about, and prices are stagnating.
Red Burgundy buyers, however, are made of sturdier stuff, buy to drink and are, perhaps, a little more discerning. With very much smaller quantities produced, and the endless fascination (and frustration) of the Pinot Noir grape, Burgundy holds up better. And we know of those who, once seduced, have put Bordeaux behind them never to return. As ever, it’s the grower’s name that counts in Burgundy, and not the lure of a fashionable label. You certainly wouldn’t buy a Coche-Dury Monthelie for that.
The credit crunch, sub-prime mortgages and a little trouble at our local Northern Rock bank have been in the news. Stock markets have trembled, and financiers have asked questions about the best place to invest in a ‘squeeze’. Historically, fine wine prices have mirrored the ups and downs of stocks and shares. So what to do with a wine portfolio?
In a recent letter to the Financial Times, Colin Hay, Professor of Political Analysis at Sheffield University wanted to reassure shaky wine investors. He reminded readers of the fact that “fine wine investors are a rather diverse bunch and there are just as many who turn to wine when other asset prices are falling”.
Yet a conversation this week with ‘someone in the know’ shed a slightly different and more pessimistic light on this. It appears that Red Bordeaux, especially at the fashionable top end, has been the target of more speculation than is healthy, putting the market at risk. There’s plenty of wine about, and prices are stagnating.
Red Burgundy buyers, however, are made of sturdier stuff, buy to drink and are, perhaps, a little more discerning. With very much smaller quantities produced, and the endless fascination (and frustration) of the Pinot Noir grape, Burgundy holds up better. And we know of those who, once seduced, have put Bordeaux behind them never to return. As ever, it’s the grower’s name that counts in Burgundy, and not the lure of a fashionable label. You certainly wouldn’t buy a Coche-Dury Monthelie for that.