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Investing in Fine Wine: What do You Need to Consider?

In this article, we outline the key things that you need to consider when investing in fine wine. Fine wine investment experts like the team at WineCap can help you make informed decisions relating to the following factors.

Is investing in fine wine a good idea?

Investing in fine wine is a proven way to strengthen and diversify your portfolio. Fine wine is a stable, low-risk investment thanks to its tangibility and low volatility. As an alternative asset, fine wine has shown very little correlation to mainstream markets. When traditional investments like bonds and equities fall, fine wine tends to hold steady. Moreover, fine wine has been one of the best-performing assets over the last 30 years, delivering consistent returns even in times of uncertainty.

How much should you invest in wine?

Fine wines are a luxury commodity, which means they can sometimes command high prices. Most people tend to start off in the vicinity of £5,000-£10,000 to make their investments worthwhile. However, there are a range of options depending on the region and the producer, how much of the wine is made and the wines’ age. Setting your budget before you start will help you narrow your focus and ensure you have exposure to the wines that suit your investment goals. This figure may change as time goes on, but it’s good to have a starting point.

Which wines should you invest in?

Once you have set your budget and determined your investment goals, you need to decide which wines you want. Factors such as region, producer, grape variety and critical acclaim will affect their final value.

A wine investment expert will help you find the appropriate wines for your investment portfolio. WineCap has formed long-lasting relationships over the past decade with négociants, wholesalers and private collectors. This means that we have access to some of the world’s most prized wines. What’s more, our unique proprietary technology analyses over 400,000 wine prices a day to identify the right, undervalued wines to buy and sell across the global market at the right time and price.

How will you store your wines?

Investment-grade wine should be stored correctly to help protect its value. For long-term storage, this means holding the wine in a cool, dark place with minimal disturbance. Bonded storage (a secure location approved by the HMRC that stores items that haven’t paid VAT or duty tax) will give you the peace of mind that your wine is being kept in the right conditions. World-class care ensures that when you come to sell, your wine’s provenance will quickly secure maximum prices.

Ready to embark on your wine investment journey? Schedule your free consultation with one of WineCap’s investment experts to find out the next steps.

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Three reasons why the Brexit deal will prevent customers from paying more for their wine.

Ever since the UK voted to leave the European Union in 2016, trade talks and negotiations between the two sides had been full of uncertainty, posturing and brinkmanship which at times made it feel like a deal was unobtainable. So, the news that a trade deal – now ratified by the UK Parliament - had been struck on Christmas Eve last year was met with welcome relief across all industry sectors on both sides of the Channel and especially by those looking to invest in wine.

1. The costly VI-1 import documentation for UK and EU wines is no longer going to be introduced in July as previously planned. Taking its place will be a straightforward Wine Import Certificate which asks for basic producer and product information. This means far less admin and fees for wine importers, which in turn means no extra costs will be passed on to customers.

2. Crucially, wines will not have to undergo lab assessment for the new Wine Import Certificate. Submitting wines for lab analysis would have caused backlogs of wines which would have created frustrating shipment delays.

3. While UK wine importers are going to have to get to grips with new processes and forms over the coming months, this is just part of the anticipated bedding-in period which will become second nature as time goes on and as new processes are established.

With the previous uncertainty around Brexit having disappeared with the end of the transition period and with 2021 looking to mirror previous years of healthy returns for fine wine, contact us to speak to one of our advisors about creating your portfolio to invest in wine.

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