Invest in Fine wines?

hakuraman

I have been approached by a company called European Fine Wines (ef wines)

It was a cold call, freindly chat, sent me some literature through the post and then came on with a call about returns etc.

Their logic is that the far east is buying lots of French wine and its a good medium to long term investment.

What bothers me is the approach, the cold call and the fact that if it was that good a deal they wouldn't need to "sell it"

Has anyone heard of them or experience of them?

Regards Hakuraman

Baldur

See this item from the Independent

hakuraman

Thanks for that about the Independant article. I e mailed "wine searcher" as ef wines wasn't on their list of sellers yesterday and got this back from them
Thanks for getting in touch. They requested removal from our database however as they have an active list we shall put them back on.

If they approached you unsolicited I would be careful as this is a practice that is not well regarded in the market particular in regards to top growth wines.

We have also noticed they are using our rating as an endorsement on their site without our permission. The rating they are using is an old one and are no longer a 5 star rated merchant on Wine-Searcher

I'm due to get a call later this week so will mention the above

Regards Hakuraman

Baldur

A good browse of this link (from the Independent reply) is likely to be worthwhile - http://investdrinks.org/

From their 'Directory' section:

Has same company secretary and website registrant as Nouveau World Wines. Their website claims: ‘Your personal advisor'

'Our team of advisers pride themselves on their knowledge of the wine market and will guide you in the selection of the finest vintages.'

However, their website suggests that this pride may be misplaced:

‘Napoleon III introduced the Fine Wine Index, and today the finest French vintages are still classified and controlled by the Institut Da Appellations da Origne (sic), which we see as Appellation Controlee.’ investdrinks suspects that they mean the Institut National d'Appellation d'Origine et de la Qualit! (INAO).

bendix

hakuraman wrote: »

Thanks for that about the Independant article. I e mailed "wine searcher" as ef wines wasn't on their list of sellers yesterday and got this back from them
Thanks for getting in touch. They requested removal from our database however as they have an active list we shall put them back on.

If they approached you unsolicited I would be careful as this is a practice that is not well regarded in the market particular in regards to top growth wines.

We have also noticed they are using our rating as an endorsement on their site without our permission. The rating they are using is an old one and are no longer a 5 star rated merchant on Wine-Searcher

I'm due to get a call later this week so will mention the above

Regards Hakuraman

Yes, it's always a good idea to buy investments you know nothing about and didnt previously want, from people you don't know and have never heard of.

It makes even more sense when you consider they called you unsolicited.

Me? I'd bite their hands off at this great offer.

purch

From the Purch book of Investment Rules.

Rule Number 43: Don't Invest in anything you can drink by mistake :eek:

dzug1

No - you can't drink it by mistake as you never actually take delivery. They store it for you (for an annual fee) until it is sold. If it exists in the first place - I've no idea if this particular company is a scam (ie no wine exists) or a rip off (overpriced wine) - from their method of doing business you can be sure they will be one or the other.

mr_fishbulb

Here's some articles that came out (snigger!) in the last few days:

FT - Fine wine prices edge higher
Investment International - Fine Wine in an Asset Class of its Own
Moneyweek - Is wine worth a punt?

Also Motley Fool did a podcast on fine wine investing earlier in the year. You can download a copy here.

Gordias

I can see there being some unscrupulous companies out there cashing in on this.

However there are plenty of honest companies too. My father-in-law buys wine "in bond", i.e. whilst it's still in the barrel, from the Wine Society to replenish his 900-bottle wine cellar. Mind you it's all to drink, not to sell! _party_:dance::grouphug: