The price of fine wines has fallen 17.2% over the past 12 months, according to the Liv-ex 100 Fine Wine index, an industry benchmark, although the index has bounced back 4.5% this year. It looks like there has never been a better time for investing in wine

Chris Smith, investment manager at the Wine Investment Fund, predicts a further 9% increase to the Liv-ex index by the end of the year. “The value of wine is steadily increasing this year and is likely to continue doing so,” he said. Smith is buying 2000 vintage wines including Chteaux Latour at about £6,500 a case compared with almost £8,000 a year ago.

In 2008, businessmen like Daniel Guzu, the founder of the Fabryo paint and enamel producer, Jean Valvis, who developed the Dorna mineral water and dairy business and Sebastian Ghita, who owns the Asesoft group operating in the IT industry, announced millions of euros in investments in wine production. This year it is the turn of another wave of entrepreneurs to invest hundreds of thousands to millions of euros in new wine brands. The fine wine investment industry continues to go from strength-to-strength.

“We will probably have our first wine launch this year,” says Daniel Guzu, who invested several million euros in Vrancea county. Fabryo’s founder will position his brands on the medium to high price segment, that is an approximately 15 RON shelf price, and expects sales of one million of bottles in the third year of the business.

Started with SAPARD funds a few years ago, the projects have now reached maturity and those that launched them are currently working out the final details about the launch campaigns to be conducted over the next few months.

“This is quite a disheartening moment because everybody is talking about the crisis, about how difficult it is to collect their money from the market. I think, however, that this is a niche that will develop,” says Cristina Staicu, general manager of Domeniile Viticole Franco-Romane. The company will launch the Crai Nou brand made from organic grapes soon.

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