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UNIT TRUSTS:RMB Balanced Fun... A spurt of growth upon retiremen... Has Wall Street succumbed to "mad bull" ... Betting on a bottle of the best bubbl... Taking on the role of trustee ... |
Betting on a bottle of the best bubbly
In our occasional series on alternative investments, ZILLA EFRAT looks at champagne collecting
There's likely to be one helluva party when this century ends and those who celebrate the countdown to the millennium will want to do it in grand style. But while demand for the sparkling stuff should rise, all the best houses in the Champagne region of France have already produced whatever vintage stock will be available by the end of 1999 - and they cannot make more! When it comes to investing in champagne, only a vintage from a quality house will do. A vintage is declared in a year of exceptional harvest and only that year's grapes are used. All good vintages are matured for about seven years. Vintages are more expensive, but they keep longer. Non-vintages, which make up 90% of all champagnes, are made to be drunk inside a few months.
Paul Masters, the wine buyer at Mayburry Cellars in London, says vintage champagne prices started rising from the beginning of last year, and certain older vintages are already hard to find. However, not all the experts are convinced that champagne will outstrip other investments over the next two and a bit years. Moet & Chandon export director for Africa and the Middle East, Alain de Courselilles, exclaims: "Champagne is to be drunk, not hoarded." He forecasts that sales of champagne in 1999 will be only 5% to 10% higher than normal. After all, the surge in demand will be once off and only for one night. He points out that champagne is a barometer of people's happiness. Sales came off during the Gulf War and they could do so again if, for example, Wall Street crashed. But he is quick to paraphrase Napoleon who said: "In victory people deserve to drink champagne; in defeat they need it!" For South Africans, however, buying champagne now may offer a hedge against inflation and a falling rand. Master adds that it's an investment in something real. "Not just a piece of paper that can have its value slashed if a market turns." Douglas Green Bellingham marketing director Henry Kempen says if everyone hoarded their vintage champagne now, there would be no shortages in 1999 and no major fizz in prices. "The worst thing that could happen is that you could just be stuck with something good to drink!" More important than making money, however, is the possibility that great hopes can be turned into sour grapes if the champagne is not stored properly. Champagne should be hoarded in a dark room at a constant temperature of between 12°C and 18°C.
Kempen says: "You must lie it down flat so that the champagne touches the cork, keeping it moist and preventing it from shrinking." Masters says professional buyers will look more favourably on champagne stored in a proper cellar than that hoarded in the garage. An unbroken case of champagne will also have more value. He adds that Mayburry Cellars, like other wine merchants, offers its clients - even those in SA - the opportunity to store purchases in a thermostatically controlled bonded warehouse in the UK. Sol Kramer, the owner of the Norman Goodfellow's store in Illovo, Johannesburg, says the price of a bottle of vintage champagne currently averages between R200 and R600. Among the better names on sale in SA are Dom Perignon, Louis Roedere Cristal and Veuve Clicquot. Dom Perignon and Louis Roedere Cristal are bringing out their first jeroboam -- or 3l bottle - of 1993 vintage champagne to celebrate the millennium. Only 1993 bottles of the Dom Perignon jeroboam will be available and they will cost R11 250 each. These will be left to mature at Dom Perignon's cellars in France and will be delivered to the owner's door for 1999's New Year's Eve bash. While champagne does not appear to be auctioned in SA, would-be investors will be able to sell their stash through Norman Goodfellow's and other merchants of investment wines.
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