Albany Portfolio Management

When the economic crisis struck, prices of fine wines plummeted - and left Suffolk-based Seckford Wines fearing a painful recession.

Yet the fine wines merchant is actually increasing its "multi-million pound" turnover as the market has proved surprisingly resilient.

Investors who seek alternative havens for their capital have turned to fine wines, pushing up the prices of some of the best - which had fallen - to even higher levels than they attained at the peak of the economic cycle 18 months ago, according to Julian Downing, Seckford's managing director.

He said: "People are now realising that wine is a viable alternative investment to the stock market - and it doesn't suffer [such] large swings."

Prices for a case of Château Lafite 2000 fell from about £11,000 last summer to £7,500 in March, but they have since rebounded to £11,500 and appear still to be rising.

Mr Downing said the company was experiencing particularly strong demand from enthusiasts in south-east Asian markets who were capitalising on the beneficial exchange rate.

Seckford Wines is shipping much more wine to China via Hong Kong and it also expects demand from India to increase.

In spite of reports of a backlash against conspicuous consumption in the wake of the financial turmoil, Mr Downing said there were plenty of people willing to pay for the very highest quality wines.

"Just last week we sold a case of Chateau Latour 1961 claret for £33,000 [which went overseas via Hong Kong].

"If we could find more in a similar condition, they would sell too.

"If we had 20 cases of Lafite 2000 this morning I could sell it all by the end of the day."

Although many purchasers simply want the best to drink, many are also buying for investment purposes.

"It is very possible to make money out of wine in this market," Mr Downing said.

"We are doing just that for many of our customers. We are very busy."

By Bob Sherwood
FT.com
24th August 2009
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f7c6bf10-8e71-11de-87d0-00144feabdc0.html