International Investing

Like every other investment, this one is probably over prices and won’t beat the index in the long run. But so what? Even if it’s value goes to zero, you can still drink it:

Most wines around the world go on sale only after they are bottled. But in Bordeaux the process starts far earlier. International demand for the biggest and best-known names is huge, and growing. That’s especially true for the five so-called first-growth Bordeaux wines - chateaus Lafite, Mouton Rothschild, Latour, Margaux, and Haut-Brion - but several dozen other labels also are increasingly sought after.

“Everyone wants to be on the market,” says Patrick Maroteaux, the owner of Château Branaire-Ducru, who also heads the industry association that organizes tasting week.

Since the quantities of wine made are limited, prices can and do shoot up. After setting a price per bottle, the chateaus sell as much as 90% of that year’s product to the market makers in Bordeaux, starting in mid-May.