Sidney Chong hadn’t had a single sip of wine before going to university. But while at UCL, he decided to extend his studies beyond chemical physics to take in the WSET Level 1. Now 27, Chong travels to Burgundy for tastings, blogs about wine, and invests in it – both for himself and on behalf of family and friends.
Originally from Hong Kong but now UK-based, Chong is part of a new generation of younger investors for whom wine makes an attractive proposition. Financially savvy, he reasons that unlike stocks, shares, commodities and crypto, a wine’s production is limited – when combined with the law of supply and demand, this creates an interesting asset class for long-term investment.
Another potential benefit is that wine is a consumable, or as HMRC terms it a "wasting asset", which makes it exempt from Capital Gains Tax. One example Chong gives is from Burgundy estate Domaine Lamy Caillat: three years ago he bought a bottle of Chassagne-Montrachet 2017 for £45; now it’s trading for £700. "If you’re not buying blindly, I don’t see prices going down."
According to Olivia Souto of Cult Wine Investment, the average bidder at wine auctions has shifted from 65 years old to 40. "Four years ago, it was male executives in their fifties and sixties looking for a pension plan, but the demographic is significantly changing."
Barbara Drew MW of wine retailer Berry Bros. & Rudd has also identified a shift in the profile of collecting customers in recent years, with a younger, more culturally diverse demographic of wine lovers taking "an interest in investing in their future drinking and beginning to build their own cellar".
Souto argues some of the more attractive aspects of wine investment for young people, beyond the liquid: "Fine wine has a long-term proven track record and is defensive in economic downturn."
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"Wine is something people can access, and if you do it properly you will make money," says Queena Wong, 51. The voracious collector began buying cases of wine in the early 2000s but found collecting, in general, to be a bit of a man’s world.
"People would say it’s like investing in a handbag or shoes, but it isn’t. You have to be confident because you are buying something you can’t try and women in male spheres can get tested a lot," says Wong. "It’s not always friendly and it’s taken me a few years to break into some significant circles."
Passionate about encouraging more women into the world of wine, Wong says there is now a strengthening in the industry...
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