Domaine de la Romanée-Conti only produced a limited quantity of the Burgundy due to the end of World War II. AP Photo/Kin Cheung
A single bottle of 1945 Romanée-Conti recently sold at auction for around 700,000 euros. An extreme example, certainly. But one that illustrates something fundamental about the fine wine market: scarcity works. Wine that no longer exists because it has been drunk cannot be bought. What remains becomes more valuable. Hence why, professional wine storage is the foundation of any serious wine investment.
Handelsblatt published an interview this week with Henrik Maaß, founder of Liquid Grape and one of Germany’s most respected wine investors. The piece is worth reading for anyone who views wine not just as something to drink but as something to hold.
We read it carefully. And we have a few things to add from our side of the cellar door.
Eight percent per year, is that realistic?
Henrik Maaß says yes. For carefully selected wines, he considers annual returns of roughly 8% achievable. Not for every wine, not without expertise, and not without patience. But for investors who know what they are buying, wine is a serious asset class.
The logic is straightforward: premium wines from prestigious regions like Bordeaux or Burgundy become scarcer over time as bottles are consumed. Supply falls. Demand from collectors and investors worldwide remains steady or grows. Prices follow.
What makes wine additionally appealing: compared with many other alternative investments, volatility is relatively low. Wine does not fluctuate daily like a stock. It develops slowly, predictably, over years.
The drawback: liquidity is lower than listed assets, and expertise is essential. Not every wine qualifies as an investment.
Which wines actually qualify as investments?
This is the critical question the Handelsblatt interview addresses clearly. Maaß does not invest indiscriminately in expensive bottles. He focuses on four criteria.
First, prestigious producers. First growths from Bordeaux, grand cru from Burgundy, the finest estates of Piedmont. Wines the market has known and valued for decades.
Second, exceptional vintages. Not every year ages into auction material. 2010, 2015, 2016 in Bordeaux. 2010, 2015 in Burgundy. Vintages that critics unanimously celebrated.
Third, proven secondary market demand. Who will buy this wine in ten years? For Romanée-Conti, Petrus or Screaming Eagle the answer is clear. For unknown producers it is not.
Fourth, documented provenance and storage history. This is where most private wine investors fall short. And where we come in.
Why storage determines whether the investment succeeds
The Handelsblatt interview notes that serious wine investors keep their bottles in highly secure professional warehouses. In the UK this is standard practice. In Switzerland it is still underused.
A 2015 Pétrus stored for ten years in a home cellar with fluctuating temperatures becomes difficult at auction. Not because the wine is bad, but because its storage history cannot be fully documented. Auction houses like Christie’s or Acker Merrall ask about provenance. And the answer “at home” is not sufficient.
Professional wine storage is therefore not an optional extra for investors. It is the foundation that allows an investment to realise its full value at resale.
What Wine Storage Switzerland offers wine investors
Our wine storage facilities in Zurich, Basel, Lucerne, Zug and Winterthur are designed to store investment-grade wines under optimal and fully documented conditions.
Constant temperature of 12 to 13.5 degrees year-round. Optimal humidity of 65 to 70 percent. Vibration-free storage. Individually locked compartments with RFID access. Round-the-clock video surveillance. Insurance option available.
Most importantly: you have access to your collection at any time and can document the full storage history. That is the provenance that makes the difference when you eventually sell.
From CHF 29 per month. The lowest-cost protection for an asset that builds value over years.
Wine investment is never purely financial
The Handelsblatt interview ends with a thought we fully agree with: wine is never purely a numbers game. The emotional and cultural dimension always plays a role. The prestige of a great Burgundy, the history behind an old Bordeaux, the anticipation of a bottle you will open in twenty years.
That is what makes wine as an investment genuinely special. You invest in something that carries cultural value independent of its market price. The financial return and the human experience are inseparable.
We store wines for people who understand both.
If you are storing wines as investments or thinking about starting, get in touch. We will show you what proper conditions look like in person.
Enquire about a storage space | Stefan Keiser: +41 79 384 69 62
Wine Storage Switzerland GmbH — professional wine storage in Zurich, Basel, Lucerne, Zug, Winterthur, Bern and Milan.
