How do you make money from investing in vintage wines? Our expert’s first piece of advice: Keep a Cork in it

My first wine investment was a case of an obscure McLaren Vale cabernet from South Australia for something like A$1.20 a bottle. I never had the chance to either drink it or reap any financial benefits because it was stored under the stairs of my wreck of a house in a gold-rush town in central Victoria. Some school friends decided to clear away the brambles and outbuildings when I wasn’t there and then reward themselves by devouring my case of red. A few decades later, I purchased a magnum of Cheval Blanc 1949 (my birth year) and then put it in my cellar until I could think of whom to share this treasure with. I needn’t have bothered, because the lead seal was missing from the top, the cork became infected, shrunk and, therefore, ruined it before it could be tasted.

If you are serious about wine investment, your wine should be kept at a first rate place, such as Crown Cellars in Hong Kong. It should also always be “in bond,” so that the future owner will know it has never been exposed to the outside elements. The other point of keeping it out of your own cellar is that you will not be tempted to crack it open to celebrate some victory or birthday.

Lesson number one: Storage is all and bondage is essential.

My first foray into wine investment was bound to be a failure as the wine was completely obscure. It is essential to purchase only the most expensive wines from top vintages. I could have bought Petrus 1982 for £475 a case when it was released, but because the previous vintage was only £250, I ignored what has become perhaps the greatest return on an en primeur (wine sold as futures before being bottled) investment – Petrus 82 in bond and in perfect condition is now upwards of £40,000 a case. My hunch is that in less than four years it will be double that amount. By comparison, my Petrus 81 is now only £6,000 a case.

For investment purposes, primarily focus on the great vintages of Bordeaux (1982, 1989, 1990, 2000 and 2005) and only great wines, such as the five First Growths (Lafite, Mouton, Haut-Brion, Margaux and Latour), Petrus, Lafleur, Cheval Blanc, Ausone and a handful of others, such as Angelus, Evangile, Trotanoy, Tertre Roteboeuf, La Mission Haut Brion, Palmer, Cos d’Estournel and Leoville Las Cases. Forget about wines before 1982, as you can’t get enough of them and there is always the question of them being poorly stored.

Lesson number two: Only buy top wines from top vintages.

this brings me to the craze for buying en primeur, which is more popular in the West than in Asia. Most top 2005 en primeurs have now doubled or, in some cases, tripled in value despite having the highest-ever release prices. It’s fine to get what you can when critics universally hail a vintage as being legendary, such as 1961 or 1982.

But vintners always rack up their prices of their next en primeurs following a great vintage, so that makes these wines poor value. Conversely, look at earlier vintages of the same wine as they are often under-priced and tend to increase in value quickly.

The reason 2006 prices now look good value for certain wines is because of the stratospheric prices for 2007 wines. However, these 2007 wines should not be purchased – either for investment or to drink – as it is an indifferent year.

Lesson number three: Only buy en primeur in truly great vintages.

there are a number of renowned wine critics, such as Allen Meadows, Jancis Robinson, Stephen Tanzer and Neal Martin, whose overall taste preferences I favor. I will always take notice of what they say about a wine – along with a couple of wine-broker friends whose palates are outstanding. However, if they praise an obscure or minor wine, they have virtually zero impact on wine prices. Only one critic has the ability to move prices and that is Robert Parker. He may have a personal preference for heavy hitting reds, but he still has the greatest impact of any critic in any sphere. When Parker upgrades a Ch?teau Montrose 03 from 98 to 100 points, its price can double within hours. The 2005 First Growths have plateaued in price for the moment because he did not award any of them 100 points.

Lesson number four: When it comes to wine investment, Robert Parker is the only critic who matters.

it would be a very dull and predictable world if we all collected identical wines. It would also be bad business - just imagine what would happen if red Bordeaux went out of fashion in London and Shanghai. So never forget that other categories - such as Burgundies produced by Domaine Roman?e-Conti, Comte de Vogue and Domaine Leroy - have also achieved spectacular results. DRC’s1990 vintage of Roman?e-Conti is going for upwards of £120,000 a case nowadays. Ch?teau d’Yquem, while not popular in Asia, is also a no-brainer, especially from vintages like 1990 and 2001. If you put aside a case of 2001 (currently around £5,000), I could virtually guarantee that in 50 years it will be at least £1 million a case. (This is a confident assertion because I won’t be around to be proved wrong.)

Lesson number five: Diversify. Champagne, Burgundy and Sauternes also increase in value.

My first foray into wine investment was bound to be a failure as the wine was completely obscure. it is essential to purchase only the most expensive wines from the top vintages