Top 10 vineyard investments
19th April, 2012 by db_staffVineyard investments can be a safe haven for investors in difficult times, but looking beyond traditional regions can unlock real potential.
With certain fine wines no longer representing the solid investment they once did, the next logical step is to gauge the investment potential of the land
Taking that global wine consumption will continue to rise, then identifying where the wine demand will pick-up and investing in that region, represents a solid strategy to maximise your money.
The smart money would now seem to be leaning towards investing in vineyards. But it is not a short term strategy, as it can take 10 years to establish one.
A major factor involved in the decision making of where to invest in a vineyard is the geographical region, as this can make a big difference to the value of its wine. A vineyard in a less prestigious area might be cheaper to buy, but the wine will sell for less.
Another sign to look out for when deciding what will represent an attractive vineyard region investment, is if big companies are moving into the area already. This is a good indication that the area is beginning to develop.
The price of vineyards are also dropping. In Bordeaux and Dordogne vineyards dropped by 14% in 2010 and fell by 18% in Montalcino, Italy.
New World regions showed a similar trend as prices fell by 23% in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand, and 25% in the US’s Napa Valley.
The drinks business have come up with top 10 new vineyard regions around the world that may make a splash in the next decade or so.
>> 4,000-liter quevris, or large clay vessels, that are buried in the ground. Quevris are cost-efficient, if not very scientific and it produces good concentrated red wine.
First of all, quevris are of different size, not obligatory 4000 l. I’m not sure what’s the cost-efficiency of the quevris (they are cheaper than oak for sure) but from scientific point of view they are a vessel with high oxydizing potential (clay is porous and the quevris are not coated from the inside as a rule) so the wine inside tends to oxydize fast and die even faster (given that no topping-up is previewed by the “cost-efficient” system – see picture). Some of the wine is kept with the stems for a longer time than you can imagine. Not a single Georgian winemaker could answer my question how on earth they clean to sterility a porous uncoated vessel that is buried in the ground. As the answer is – there’s no way. So at the end you get a very … ahmm … specific wine, biologically unstable (in the better case, in the worse – contaminated by mould, fungi and other unknown bacteria) and oxydized, that tends to “dismantle” very fast. But, of course, it’s “natural”, “cost-efficient” and with the so called “gout de terroir”. In general the contemporary consumer refuses to drink such wines (I mean the taste as a whole) and that’s why Georgia can’t sell abroad even half of what they were selling to Russia (as Russians drink everything that burns, i.e. contains alcohol, and don’t care).
There are some interesting new wines though, but none the less they are a niche product, only for connoisseurs. Not sure if this is enough to put Georgia among the Top-10 emerging wine regions.
Good to see Vinifera representing. Valid points Bisso.
I have tried quite a bit of Georgian wine and have only had bad experiences with wine from quevris. The ones I have tried have had very odd aromas, the wines have been very vegetal and poo-ey, not in a Burgundian farmyardy way, but very unpleasant. Maybe I have just been unluck so far.
Huge ommission – Argentina has to be included. Terroir very accessible and available in Mendoza region. Weather dependable and most vineyards are at elevaton in Andes foothills imparting extraordinary qualities. Malbec is taking over the red wine world with Cab close second. Costs, compared to many locations, are very low with lots of room to grow.
I follow the following simple filosophy : Life is to short to drink bad wines.
Why bother to drink this awfull wines?