✅ Experts in Every Investment: Fine Wine 2

Splint Invest emphasises the importance of collaborating with expert partners who are leaders in their respective fields to provide informed, specialised investment opportunities. These experts are selected based on their extensive knowledge, track record, and positive customer feedback.

 The world of wine is immense and filled with an abundance of wine terms, various styles, numerous grape varieties, and much more to explore and learn about. A wine expert is an individual possessing deep knowledge about wine. This includes the ability to identify various wine styles, understand their aging potential, recognise the distinct regions and grapes, and discern the unique flavor profiles of each wine. Another crucial part of wine expertise is storage know-how.

Today, we would like to introduce our wine expert Liquid Grape to the community.

Co-founded by Henrik Maaß and Annie Dörfelt, rest assured that the wine expertise behind this firm is incredible. They hold many years of experience in wine trade and have held various positions in fine wine sales in the B2B and B2C sectors. They qualify with degrees from the German winemaking college Geisenheim University and the most prestigious wine diploma in the world at its highest level, the WSET Level 4. They also hold certifications from the IHK in the areas of customs and export processing. Over the years, they have built up an established network of dealers in rare wines, have been analyzing the value development of top-class wines for a long time and are familiar with the relevant background stories. Since Liquid Grape was founded, they have successfully guided their clients' portfolios through various macroeconomic crises, with their wine collections reliably outperforming international wine indices. 

How they evaluate wines for Splint Invest

 Annie and Henrik look at various factors to evaluate a wine's investment potential. This includes past performance, secondary market demand, critic reviews, the current price of a vintage relative to similarly valued vintages, as well as future trends and significant events or developments by producers. To them, there are classic regions in the fine wine business that have a long investment history. An example of this is Bordeaux. However, it is important to consider the current situation in the region as there may be significant differences within the region.

Annie and Henrik do not have a preferred vintage for investment as this varies by region. For beginners, A wine vintage is the year in which the grapes were harvested. When collectors buy wines, vintage matters. Good vintages produce grapes that are well-ripened, carry considerable tannin and acidity.  A great vintage offers the advantage of a long drinking window and great potential. A so-called off-vintage wine, which often comes onto the market at a significantly lower price, can offer significant potential for increasing the value of the corresponding wine in a shorter period of time.

Current trends 

 Are you new here and wondering "why invest in wine?"

🍷Done properly and through an expert, the value of wine is independent of traditional markets. Fine wine is an alternative investment that diversifies a portfolio. Bordeaux typically achieves 8% net returns on an annualised basis.

🍷It's based on supply and demand. Fine wine improves as it continues to mature in the bottle. A fine vintage not only earns points upon release but also evolves over time increasing in demand, thus enhancing its value.

🍷According to the newly 2024 published Knight Frank Luxury Investment Index for Q4 2023, wine appreciated by 146% over the last decade. 

“We are currently in a very interesting phase of the market, characterised by a correction. After many years of constant increases in value, this is a natural process. Wine is fundamentally very resilient. It is currently a good time to get started as we are in a buyers’ market. In the Bordeaux region in particular, we are observing significant changes that require more careful selection.” Henrik, Liquid Grape

Advice our expert would give to someone new to investing in wine and has minimal wine knowledge

The most important tip for wine investing is that you don't have to become an expert yourself, but rather turn to a trustworthy partner who deals with the market on a daily basis. Compare offers and pay particular attention to transparency. It is also important to view wine as part of a comprehensive investment strategy and to consider the investment horizon. Depending on the wine, Liquid Grape recommends a minimum holding period of five to ten years.

A success story where our expert significantly benefited a client's investment portfolio

A particularly nice success was the reclassification of the Bordeaux winery Château Figeac in 2022/2023. Annie and Henrik recommended customers early on to invest in off-vintage Chateau Figeac. Especially with the 2013 vintage, they were able to achieve an increase in value of more than 50% for many of their customers within two years.

We asked about the return range

Double-digit increases in value are expected within the industry. One example is the English wine exchange Liv-Ex: The LX100 index has gained over 280% since its launch 23 years ago in 2001. Over the last 5 years, our clients' portfolios at Liquid Grape have returned an average of approximately 11%.

The reasons for existing wine investments vary among our customers. Many decide to sell their wines once they have reached their desired profit - a decision that is made individually from customer to customer. There are also many “pleasure investors” who simply enjoy their wines.