Valuable advice

Yakov Galperin , Deputy General Director of Alfa Capital Management Company:

— There are two large components in prices for investment-quality wines: investment demand and real demand. After all, they drink wine first. The crisis in Europe has reduced the consumption of expensive wines. Not every European millionaire can afford a bottle of Chateau Lafite Rothschild vintage 1982 for dinner for $64 thousand. Now the price has dropped to $40 thousand. I believe that demand at a new level will be supported, for example, by wealthy Chinese. The fall will also attract the attention of new investors who are interested in portfolio diversification and attractive price levels for entry.

Oksana Kuchura , partner at UFG Wealth Management:

— Over the past four years, the wine market has become a kind of mirror of the state of the Chinese economy. The huge amount of liquidity injected into the Chinese banking system (bank assets increased by $10 trillion) created bubbles in markets where there was no strict regulation by the authorities. The wine market, along with real estate, has turned out to be one of the centers of attraction for speculative money. According to the Financial Times, as of mid-2011, more than 55% of wine sold came from Asian auctions, primarily Hong Kong. The fight against speculation has also had a ricochet effect on the wine market, and since mid-2011, the Liv-ex Fine Wine 100 Index has fallen by 27% - about the same as the Chinese stock market (minus 24% for the year). And just like the stock market, the wine market is more likely to support a weakening of Chinese monetary policy: a further reduction in the discount rate, a decrease in the volume of required bank reserves and an increase in inflation expectations.

Yuri Pavlov, director of the department for work with VIP clients of Veles Capital Investment Company:

“What will help wine prices is what the stock markets, real estate markets and all the rest are lacking. A 20% drop in the index may seem like nothing if a couple more Mediterranean banks go bankrupt. Only the return of the taste for life and the appetite for risk will revive the rally in the market for quality wines. But investing in the wine index and simply collecting collections will, of course, never be a priority for a wide range of investors. Life is too short not only to drink unworthy wines, but also to indulge yourself in the illusion that the contents of the wine cellar can make your heirs rich.

Alexey Golubovich, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Arbat Capital investment fund:

— Wine prices around the world have begun to decline, although not everywhere. For example, Argentinean inexpensive wines have risen in price by almost 10% since the beginning of the year and began to lose competitiveness in the US market. The reason is the exchange rate. And the wines of European countries are becoming cheaper (especially expensive ones - people began to save money due to the recession), and Australian wines too. Only an increase in Chinese demand and a reduction in production can support wine prices. Producers of mid-priced wines who tried to position themselves in the same place as good Bordeaux or Tuscan wine will suffer especially. They will have to reduce supplies.

What will increase the degree of demand?