Local shares and other investments may have taken a tumble in the past 18 months, but Australian fine wine investment have bucked the trend, according to Sydney auctioneers Langton’s.
And some WA vintages are right up there among the top 101 on Langton’s value list.
Langton’s Classified Australian Wine Index, a secondary wine market indicator, shows that over the past two years Australian fine wine values have risen about 64 per cent, compared with a fall of about 39 per cent in Australian stocks.
International fine wines _ mainly French _ have fared almost as poorly as stocks, according to Langton’s, falling in value by about 20 per cent over the same period.
“The index shows underlying confidence in ultra-fine Australian wine and its intrinsic rarity,” Langton’s fine wine principal Andrew Caillard said.
“Our detractors love to talk about Australia’s `industrial wines’. However, when it comes to Australian fine wine, it is ultimately a very finite and ever-depleting stock, based on extraordinary individual vineyard sites.
“From an international perspective, there’s actually not much of it available compared to top Bordeaux and Burgundy.”
WA Wine Industry Association president John Griffiths said it was no surprise that renowned WA wines, such as Cullen’s Diana Madeline cabernet merlot, Moss Wood’s cabernet sauvignon, and Leeuwin Estate’s Art Series chardonnay, were in Langton’s top-11 Australian wines on the market.
“WA is known for some of the great wines of Australia, particularly the cabernets and chardonnays of Margaret River,” Mr Griffiths said.
“Leeuwin Estate chardonnay is rightly recognised as Australia’s best white wine.
“Red wines, like Cullen’s and Vasse Felix, are all highly rated, so it’s no surprise those wines continue to be in demand.
“We make 5 per cent of Australia’s wine, but we make up more than five out of 100 wines on that list.”
Wine fanciers and investors alike had some excellent WA wines to look forward to soon.
“The great thing is we’ve had three terrific vintages _ 2007, 2008, and 2009,” Mr Griffiths said.
“We’re just starting to see some of the early releases of 2007 wines and these are remarkable wines from a very, very great year in WA.
“2008 was also a very good year, but 2009 is another great year.
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