Investing in wine is a decision that wine enthusiasts have to make – Do you hold on to bottles you feel will have value or drink them as you go? When making your decision you will want to know whether you are choosing to do so for the love of wine or for money. Sometimes your answer may be both. Either way there are a few important details that will guide you on your way to investing in wine.
Wine Selections
You will want to choose your wine selection carefully. Remember wine critics rate wines on a scale of 1 to 100. These ratings, as well as perceived scarcity (ones that will be in limited supply), are key indicators of a wine’s future value. These are the quality bottles you’ll want to seek.
If you are investing in wine as well as enjoying a bottle from your collection every now and then, you should choose wines that you would actually want to drink. To find these, consider working with a wine consultant that has heavy knowledge on the best types of wines to invest in. If you’d rather use your own skill to find the right bottles, consider researching rare bottles and participating in wine auctions to acquire the right bottles for your collection. Investing in wine should be an enjoyable process and hobby for everyone involved.
Storage
When collecting and investing in wine you will want to have proper storage to assure the wine doesn’t spoil. The storage requirements are highly important when storing wine for the long term. To properly store wine you will want to have an area specifically dedicated to your collection. It needs to be a dark area with optimal humidity levels and temperature. Common long term storage areas include basements and dark closets.
You may need to invest in a large wine cooler to assure your investment doesn’t get damaged. If you find that you don’t have space in your home for a wine collection, you will want to contact local wine storage facilities for assistance.
Insuring your Investment
Like anything high in value, you will want to protect it with an insurance plan. While a standard homeowners insurance policy may cover theft or a fire, you may need specific coverage for your collection in case of other mishaps. Get in contact with an agent who specializes in wine-collection coverage and ask questions about how much coverage you can get.
A very important step is to consider the coverage amount in relation to the value your collection holds. For those wine investors that live in harsh weather areas such as earthquake, hurricane and tornado zones, you will want to assure the insurance policy covers damage, breakage and contamination related to weather conditions.
Selling
When selling, you can either sell individual bottles of wine from your collection, part of the collection or the whole thing in its entirety. You can do this through wine auctions, whether online or in person, or by selling them directly to companies that buy wine. Just make note of any commission fee you may be charged before selling in an auction. If you’re selling to a wine buyer, get an appraisal beforehand to be familiar with what an expert thinks of your wine’s worth.
Always take proper care of your collection and provide excellent storage space and temperature at all times. Enjoy your investment!
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