Was wine a premier cru investment?

We investigate the case for Bordeaux and Rhone wine as an investment. The raw data analysed comprises of approx. 335,000 observations of wine sales prices and is analysed using the repeat sales regression method. General Red Bordeaux and Rhone wine indices are constructed for the period January 1996–January 2007, which are compared with each other, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), and with a number of wine funds and finally with the Liv-Ex Fine Wine 100 (FW100) Index. The findings suggest that Rhone and Bordeaux wines can provide average returns in excess of risk-free investments with lower risk at index level. Individual wines and sub-regions carry higher risk than the general indices with varying return levels and so direct investment in such wine by inexperienced, low volume or individual investors carries a high level of risk. Returns on indirect investment via wine funds vary, however all average returns of funds analysed exceed the general Rhone and Bordeaux Index in this research. Volatility for some wine funds was particularly high and may not suit risk-averse investors. This is reinforced by inspection of the higher moments.