315 investment funds

For several reasons the US never followed the UK's lead within wine investing. Unlike EU history, the US's relationship with alcohol has been severely tainted, thus stalling the adoption of wine investment methods. Prohibition, and its historical legacy, still permeates US regulations. Intrastate as well as interstate delivery, the three-tier selling model, holding and also selling of alcoholic beverages is all regulated, which brings hurdles (and costs) to purchasing and selling wines that European investors do not have. But because of internet retailers and internet auctions buying and selling fine wines is currently easy, handy and affordable.

Growing global demand has made wine funds more profitable than ever. Within the 1990s demand for the very best wines coming from Bordeaux boomed when Asia joined European countries and The United States in pursuit of consuming this liquid luxury. Higher price transparency via the web and the influence of wine critics has demystified and democratized fine wines, bringing it towards the attention of a much larger audience. Along with only a few clicks on the internet investors can now see the selling price range along with a series of expert opinions about taste, quality and longevity. As a result, wine prices have risen by approximately 13-15% per year over the past 25 years with quiet intervals becoming much more balanced out by the busy ones.

Offsetting the demand growth is a long-term limit on supply. Napoleon successfully fixed supply when he tied the wine classifications to the corresponding parcels of land. New World wines, like the ones from the US and Australia, have had difficulty with acceptance in the global wine investment arena. They are competing with a number of centuries, or even millennia, of practice and status in Bordeaux. Along with this type of young track record, about 100 years, it is difficult for investors to possess as much confidence in their return as they may have along with a Bordeaux wine beverage.

Fine investment funds have long been part of a European, rich people's portfolio. Along with the advancements in transparency and availability of online merchants, US traders are primed for investing in wine. With the fixed supply and the growing demand coming from emerging economies like China and Russia, wine beliefs can only increase. If US investors can learn the lessons from more established European markets they are going to find a lucrative way to diversify their investment portfolio.