Cult Wines Americas – The Future of Fine Wine Investment [Part 1]

The “Silver Linings” are real when it comes to fine wine. Despite 2021 being an unprecedented year due to COVID lockdowns, volatile markets, and Brexit challenges, it has been a record-breaking year for fine wine investment.

Both Champagne and Burgundy have an excellent final quarter, with Champagne gaining 22.98%, according to the Liv-ex Champagne 50 index, and the Burgundy 150 posted a 11.19% quarterly gain in advance of the upcoming 2020 vintage en primeur releases. The fine wine market certainly shows encouraging signs that a brighter future is ahead.

According to the Liv-ex Bordeaux 500 Index, over the last 18 months, there has been a resurgence of interest not only from those who have been building their wine portfolios over the longer term but also from new investors.

There are some big investors looking into this alternative-asset class including Warren Buffett himself, so I thought it would be a good idea to investigate further. Cult Wines Investment came on top of my searches.

About Cult Wines Investment
Founders Tom and Phil Gearing launched the Cult Wines platform in London during 2007 with the idea to revolutionize the way fine wine investment works and make the asset class more accessible. Not only is Cult Wine Investment the global leader in fine wine collection and investment management, but they are also on a mission to make investing in wine as enjoyable and rewarding as the wine itself.  The leadership team have a deep-rooted passion for fine vintages, and close relationships with prestigious and respected growers, as well as market-leading investment expertise.

Enters “Cult Wines” Americas
Cult Wines enters the North American market in 2021 with headquarters in New York and Toronto, as one of the first wine investment platforms with a special focus on US and Canadian investors.

“The US is a big player in the auction and collectors’ market but historically has been underserved in the wine investment market,” describes Tom Gearing, the CEO and co-founder of Cult Wines.

“Historically, the wine investment category has been perceived as only for the wealthy, or those with considerable wine knowledge. We know that is not the case and are enabling more people to invest effectively while maintaining the client service, impeccable standards, and returns for which we are known,” said Atul Tiwari, CEO Cult Wines Americas.

Cult Wine Investments website: www.wineinvestment.com

Here is a list of the Americas leadership team and either wines they have really enjoyed or regions they love.

Tom Gearing, Global CEO

Tom Gearing oversees the company’s overall strategy, global operations, and technology innovation. Tom has grown this start-up to an award-winning global company with $390 million assets under management (AUM) and 80+ employees in six offices including: United Kingdom, North America, and Asia Pacific.

Tom has been regularly quoted in the New York Times, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, and Forbes. As well as being the recipient of numerous awards, he has received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the International Trade and the Spear’s 500. He also holds a WSET Level 3.

Tom’s Favorite Wines:

Tom enjoys chardonnay and pinot noir, and at the same time, he likes to try as many different styles and grape varieties as possible. His most memorable vinous experiences to date are Petrus ’61 en Magnum, Liger Belair La Romanee ’09 and Domaine Leroy, Richebourg ’03.

Atul Tiwari, CEO, Americas

Atul Tiwari leads the team and is responsible for the overall strategy and development of Cult Wines Americas. Hailed by Investment Executive as ‘having a knack for knowing what’s next.’

As former CEO of Vanguard Canada, Atul and his team helped pioneer ETF investing in Canada and grew the company to $30 billion in assets over 7.5 years. Prior to Vanguard, he was the founding President of BMO Exchange Traded Funds. In 2018 he received the Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce award for Corporate Executive of the Year and has twice been named to Wealth Professional’s annual list of People to Watch in the industry. Atul is a member of the Independent Review Committee for Mackenzie Funds, a Director of the D.D. Foundation, Atul is also a member of the Advisory Council for the CFA Society of Toronto and an Honorary Trustee of the Royal Ontario Museum.

Atul has previously managed a 4,000-bottle cellar of Bourgogne for Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin (Toronto). It’s interesting to note that he also has a law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School and has practiced in both London (UK) and Toronto before transitioning to finance.

Atul’s Favorite Wines:

Atul has a passion and is very knowledgeable on Bourgogne, in addition he enjoys Bordeaux and Italian wines.

Carrie Tuck, CMO, Americas

Carrie has spent nearly two decades working in public relations and marketing for multimillion-dollar brands and start-ups within the financial services industry.

Prior to joining Cult Wines Americas as Chief Marketing Officer, Carrie was the Head of Marketing for Vanguard, Canada and was instrumental in building the brand in the region. Throughout her career, Carrie has held various senior positions at asset management and fund companies, where she ran marketing, product and client service. Carrie also holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from Concordia University.

Favorite Wines:

Carrie likes to experiment with wine, so she seizes opportunities to try new wines whenever she can.

 

Jonathan Stevenson, EVP, Americas

Jonathan brings over ten years and extensive experience in the alternative investment sector of fine wine to his role of Executive Vice President at Cult Wines. In 2021, he was appointed to oversee Cult Wines’ global expansion into the Americas and is responsible for growing the client base.

Previously, Jonathan was the Sales Manager for the UK sales team. He began his career at Cult Wines as a Portfolio Manager after graduating from Newcastle University (UK) with a degree in Marketing and Management.

 

Favorite Wine:
Vega Sicilia Unico

– Up Next –

Cult Wines Americas – The Future of Fine Wine Investment [Part 2]

I will explore and do a deeper dive into this growing alternative-asset class, and explore Cult Wine’s new investment platform how it makes investing in fine wine more accessible!

#wine #finewine #wineinvestment #alternativeinvestment #winenews #winelovers #winecollectors #champagne #bordeaux #burgundy #finewinelovers #wineindustry #winebusiness #winetrade #winetrends #vin #frenchwine #winemarket #winenews #wineeconomics #vintagewine #wineinvestors #cultwines #cultwinesamericas #cultwinesUSA #cultwinescanada #cultcru #bourgogne #mycultcollection #winewednesday

 

Disclaimer

Past performance is not indicative of future success; the performance was calculated in GBP and will vary in other currencies. Any investment involves risk of partial or full loss of capital. The Cult Wines Index is a hypothetical tool. The results depicted here are not based on actual trading and do not account for the annual management fees that may be charged to a Cult Wines customer which ranges from 2.95% to 2.25% depending on the size of the portfolio, and there is no guarantee of similar performance with an investor’s particular portfolio.

Bordeaux Index records a 47% sales growth in 2021

The Bordeaux Index has reported sales growth of almost 50% year in 2021, to a company record total of US$174m.

Increased activity in Asia and the US (where trade tariffs on many French wines were suspended in Q1) has been most significant. The Bordeaux Index has also seen pronounced gains in the UK. Their client base also increased by c.30% in 2021.

The strong growth in volumes on the LiveTrade online platform, a trading venue in the market for Bordeaux, Champagne and Italian wines, came as the company prepares for the launch of a new, expanded version of the platform this year, when users from across the wine market will be able to trade the full spectrum of fine wines rather than the core set which LiveTrade has focused on to date.

Gary Boom, Founder and CEO of Bordeaux Index, commented:

“We are delighted to report record-breaking results and indeed such strong progress compared to 2020. While activity in the wine market – just as in other luxury assets and collectibles such as art – has no doubt been high, we believe our outsized growth is a clear vindication of our strategy to improve market access and transparency alongside providing best-in-class product expertise.”

“Looking ahead to 2022, there is certainly room for an optimistic outlook, with the global pool of wine collectors on a different scale to a decade ago, and also investors increasingly looking towards hard assets such as wine which deliver consistently strong performance, capital preservation and protection against inflation.”

“Building on the tremendous growth last year, we have invested in new technology to improve our LiveTrade platform, which we firmly believe will continue to transform the way fine wine is bought and sold globally.”

#bordeaux #bordeauxwine #bordeauxindex #burgundywine #greatwine #grandcru #finewine #winelover #champagne #champagnelover #vintagechampagne #livetrade
#wineinvestment #wineinvestors #wine #vin #frenchwine #madeinfrance

@bordeaux_index

BlockBar NFT Gifting Platform Launches with 300 Bottles of Penfolds Wine

BlockBar, the world’s first direct-to-consumer NFT platform for wine and spirits has just diversified further by launching a gifting capability comprised of 300 bottles of Penfolds.

This new initiative lets the BlockBar community gift a highly coveted collectible wine or spirit connect the physical and digital world. In fact, BlockBar says the market for investing in high-end collectible spirits, like Penfolds wine, has increased by 582 % in the last decade.

Sam Falic, co-founder of BlockBar, told Forbes about the platform’s extension which targets both crypto experts and beginners: “This is of great value to add to your digital portfolio, aside from the digital art you own, you can now own a digital bottle and build your digital bar which is also backed by physical assets.”

NFT (Non-fungible tokens) are currently popular (almost in every industry), from art to rare wine and spirits. Since its founding in 2018, BlockBar has allowed consumers to purchase asset-backed NFTs directly from brand owners, to burn, redeem or sell the physical product. The actual bottles are stored in a secured facility in Singapore. BlockBar also gives the chance to gift the physical product, and the NFT gifting platform is designed so that anyone can use it.

Penfolds wine estate has launched a limited edition NFT tied to its rare Magill Cellar 3 barrel of wine, available to purchase for $130,000.

Dov Falic, the other co-founder of BlockBar, explained: “All you need to know is that you are receiving a gift which is a physical bottle that is stored for you in a secure location; the fact that it’s built on blockchain or uses NFTs is the mechanism to prove provenance and ownership. You can take possession of the bottle anytime you want.”

BlockBar’s first NFT gift launches on 18 January 2022, with limited edition NFTs linked to 300 bottles of Penfolds Magill Cellar 3 2018, priced around 0.13 ETH ($467). The founders described the Australian producers’ rare wine as the highest quality and representative blend of the brand’s Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz and “one of the most collectible and giftable wine brands in the world.”

When the NFT is purchased, the cryptographic version is stored securely on BlockBar with proof of authenticity held on the blockchain as a digital certificate of ownership. The recipient will receive an email with an invite to create or sign into an account and accept their NFT, receiving full ownership. The receiver now can choose to redeem the physical product, trade its NFT version within the BlockBar marketplace or store it in their virtual bar, all with no additional transaction fees.

The limited-edition NFT release includes a buyer experience: the first three people to purchase six bottles of NFT Penfolds Magill Cellar 3 2018 are invited to a private virtual session with Penfolds Chief Winemaker, Peter Gago, and will receive a personalized plaque for their wine gift box as well.

#wine #winelovers #BlockBar #wineinvestors #wineinvestment #winecollectors
#winecollector #wineenthusiast #finewines #winelife #luxurywine #womeninwine #penfoldswine #limitededition #NFT #NFTgifting

The 2021 Fine Wine Market Report [Liv-ex] 

2021 has been an exciting year….

All previous records set in 2020 have been broken and surpassed in 2021, marking the most successful year ever for the secondary fine wine market.

Fine wine trading continually broke new ground in terms of the value of wine traded and the sheer breadth of wines now active in the market. Liv-ex Fine Wine 100 index, the industry benchmark (tracks the price performance of 100 most-traded wines in the secondary market), reclaimed and then exceeded its decade-old former peak, while the Liv-ex Fine Wine 1000 rose for 18 consecutive months.

Fine wine collectors returned in force to both classic labels and regions, even as the market base continued to broaden and diversify.

The recent publication of the 2021 Liv-ex Power 100 report explains many of the reasons behind this year’s results. After a challenging start to 2020, the impetus from the latter half of last year continued, unabated, throughout this year.

Key findings in the report:

  • 2021 sets new records for secondary market trade.
  • Fine Wine outperforms FTSE100 and gold.
  • Champagne is the top-performing region.
  • Burgundy’s share of trade hits a new high.
  • Bordeaux trade dips but First Growth share rises.
  • Blue-chip labels rule the roost though the market continues to diversify.

Link to the full report with charts:

https://www.liv-ex.com/2021/12/new-report-fine-wine-market-2021/

#livex #wine #finewine #wineinvestment #alternativeinvestment #winenews #winelovers #winecollectors #champagne #bordeaux #burgundy #winereport2021 #finewinelovers #winestorage #wineindustry #winebusiness #winetrade #trading #trends #winetrends #wineonline

Italy Becomes ‘Dominant Force’ on the Fine Wine Market

According to Liv-ex, Italy has become a ‘dominant force’ on the fine wine market, with the country’s previously under-represented regions rising in importance on the secondary market.

Last year Italy’s sub-index increased 12.2%, and the increased trading of Italian wine on the secondary market trade has shown Italy becoming the third most traded category, according to a recent Liv-ex report. Italy enjoyed a record high market share at 16% in the year-to-date, behind Bordeaux (40.5%) and Burgundy (20.4%).

In recent years, there has been a significant expansion in the market of Italian fine wine, with the number of vintage wines on the secondary market having grown 2,566% between 2010 and 2021. There is no sign of this slowing either, as this year has seen it surpass the levels achieved for the whole of 2020, by 5.3%.

The Liv-ex report shows that demand for the critically acclaimed Super Tuscans has generated the majority of trade, offering steady returns and low volatility. However, as this demand has grown, more Italian brands have entered the secondary market, and there has been greater exposure of some of these ‘lesser’ known regions, such as Veneto, Abruzzo, Umbria, and others which have entered the market in the last two years.

“The increased diversity of Italian wines trading on the secondary market would not have been possible without Italy’s strengthened image as a competitive fine wine force on the international stage,” Liv-ex said.

#finewine #livex #italianwine #italy #winemarket #winebusiness #wineinvestment #supertuscans #wine #winelover #vino #winelovers #instawine #redwine #winestagram #vinoitaliano #winery #sommelier #italia #winelife #vineyard #madeinitaly #tuscany #piemonte #womeninwine #winenews #winemarketing