At the highest end, rare, super-premium wines are the most expensive of all food, and outstanding vintages from the best vineyards may sell for thousands of dollars per bottle. Such wines are considered by some to be Veblen goods-that is, goods for which demand increases instead of decreases as its price rises. The most common wines purchased for investment include those from Bordeaux, Burgundy, cult wines from California, and Vintage port. Characteristics of highly collectible wines include:

1.            A proven track record of holding well over time

2.            A drinking window plateau (i.e., the period for maturity and approachability) that is many years long

3.            A consensus amongst experts as to the quality of the wines

Investment in fine wine has attracted fraudsters who prey on their victims’ ignorance of this sector of the wine market. Wine fraudsters often work by charging excessively high prices for off-vintage or lower-status wines from famous wine regions, while claiming that they are offering a sound investment unaffected by economic cycles. Like any investment, proper research is essential before investing. Counterfeiting of labels and bottles is another scam that is sometimes encountered in auctions of famous wines such as 1982 Pétrus.