Where should one start when investing in wine? Is it best to focus on the best domains, the best vintages, or both?

One third of your cellar should be made up of Bordeaux, of good cellaring wines from renowned estates. While on the wine market, Bordeaux wines have been stagnating, some opportunities still exist among the biggest names, and now is the time to seize those opportunities. Don’t focus solely on grands crus classés: you should also look into those exciting, lesser-known properties whose praises we sing day in day out: Château Siran in Margaux, Grand Corbin Despagne or Pressac in Saint-Emilion, or among the satellites in the appellation, Haut Carles in Fronsac, or Clos Puy Arnaud in Castillon.

Another third can be dedicated to Burgundy and the Rhône. Contrary to popular opinion, these wines don’t necessarily have to be expensive and hard to find – especially not on our auction platform! Prioritise recent vintages that have the most value to gain from aging. In the Rhône, as well as the stars of Côte-Rôtie and Hermitage, it’s also worth looking to appellations such as Cornas or Saint-Joseph. The same goes for the southern Rhône (Cairanne, Gigondas…)

The final third of your collection can be made up of wines from other regions. This is the portion that will give your collection its personality, as you’ll be able to mix it up with gems from the Loire, Languedoc-Roussillon or the South-West, not forgetting good vintage cuvées from Champagne, the Jura’s rising stars and delicious wines from Alsace. From other winemaking countries, dedicate a good portion of the wines to Spain, Italy and Germany but don’t forget new world regions such as the USA and New Zealand for instance.

What advice can you give us to avoid being ripped off when investing in wine?

When collecting wine you have to really make sure that you keep an eye on trends in the wine market; it’s not an investment for people who are just starting to learn about wine. There is plenty of information online, whether you choose one of the many traditional wine magazines out there or read our blog, with monthly auction reports and annual barometer!

A wine collection is not a short-term investment. You will need to keep a hold of your bottles for at least 8 to 10 years to earn any money from them. That’s why you should invest in good vintages (and know your vintages!). We’re lucky in that lots of recent of recent vintages are good enough to age well: 2016, 2015, 2010, 2009, and older still, 2005 and 2000.

Your wines should also be stored in perfect conditions: choose a place with the right ambient temperature and humidity and of course choose somewhere secure!

Does iDealwine offer its customers storage space?

It’s in the pipeline! We’ll be able to tell you more about that soon…

What are the most frequent scams when it comes to wine?

The promise of a huge return on your investment. Having followed the wine market for the past 20 years, I can say that it’s impossible to give precise prognostics in terms of return. So if you are promised a certain sum, you should be wary… For a wine to be a good investment, it has to have a combination of rareness, longevity and attractiveness: three notions that change considerably over time and depend on the economic environment and general trends in consumption.

To what extent can iDealwine be a secure buying platform for someone who wants to invest in wine?

First of all, iDealwine is a goldmine of information, with auction results and price estimates dating back to 1993, a huge database of wines and the Blog, featuring articles written by passionate (and knowledgeable!) wine enthusiasts.

In our market analyses, we point out unusual price variations, which allows us to spot new trends very early on. You’ll find in-depth information regarding trends in regions and appellations in our annual barometer.

In your iDealwine account, we’ve also created a section called ‘Manage my cellar’, which allows you to input all of the wines you’ve bought (even if they weren’t all bought on iDealwine, you’re forgiven 😉) with the purchase price. iDealwine calculates the value of your cellar, and you can track it as it changes over time. And if you decide to sell your wines one day, iDealwine offers international exposure to your cellar, with buyers in 60 countries.