| Nothing is sacred to the boys in the city. | | | | to younger, cash rich buyers looking to |
| Now even the world of wine has become a | | | | establish a cellar but comforted by the fact |
| bun-fight between investors keen to make | | | | the wine will appreciate. The Asian market |
| dramatic returns over very short periods and | | | | has also grown enormously, with wine |
| claret lovers despairing as their favourite | | | | merchants in China and Japan doing record |
| wines spiral out of their reach. At the very | | | | business. |
| top end of French wine-making, the enormously | | | | |
| collectable Petrus of Pomerol is now around | | | | So what does this mean for those of us who |
| £23,000 a case for the wonderful 2000 | | | | fancy a dabble in the world of fine Claret? |
| vintage. However, I have no doubt it will | | | | Well there are two main points to bear in |
| soon find a buyer as the market for fine | | | | mind before you take the plunge. Most |
| wines refuses to slow down. Customers who | | | | important is the quality of the vintage: 2000 |
| bought into the celebrated 2000 vintage en | | | | and 2005 command such high prices because |
| primeur (ie buying while the wine is still in | | | | they were both superb vintages, demand for |
| France at the Chateaux maturing) are now | | | | both will always be high. Secondly, the |
| laughing into their checkbooks. A case of | | | | influence of the American wine critic Robert |
| Mouton-Rothschild 2000 that went for around | | | | Parker is crucial in the modern market. His |
| £1000 will now fetch somewhere in the | | | | 100 point scoring system is massively |
| region of £6000. That's 600% growth in | | | | influential in the value of a wine, many |
| just 7 years, no wonder the city boys are | | | | would say too influential! A wine with from a |
| scrambling to get their hands on good wine! | | | | good Parker score from a good vintage is a |
| | | | sound investment, though obviously still at |
| This begs the question: who is actually | | | | the whim of global markets. If you fancy |
| drinking these wines? Contrary to common | | | | buying into the top wines but find the prices |
| opinion the vast majority is still being | | | | a little on the heavy side, look to lesser |
| bought to be drunk, what has changed is the | | | | but decent vintages like 2004 or 2006 or buy |
| nature of the buyers. Wine Merchants are | | | | into the 2nd Wines of these Chateaux: these |
| seeing their customers change from older | | | | can represent terrific value. |
| clients following a wine vintage to vintage | | | | |