Wine wins over handbags, whisky as best luxury investment

A recent Knight Frank analysis released some very fortunate news for Liquid Opulence and its clients: wine has officially overtaken fine handbags and rare whisky as the top performing luxury investment asset from June 2020-June 2021. 

During this 12-month period, investment-grade wine prices increased 13%, allowing this precious asset to take the lead over other tracked luxury goods like fine arts, collectable cars, jewelry, rare coins and investment whiskies. 

Image by By Herry Lawford

As we wrote in 2020, luxury handbags were considered a better investment than fine arts and collectable cars. We highlighted the most collectable bag in the world, the widely coveted crocodile Hermés bag, as having risen 129% in value over the last decade. In the same article, we noted the rise in popularity in investment-grade rare whiskies. Though still smart investments, the two assets registered 4% and 3% price declines, respectively, allowing luxury wines to take first place. 

“This trend is exciting to see but not altogether unexpected,” said Benjamin Hardy, Liquid Opulence Senior Portfolio Director. “We’ve harped on about luxury wines being resilient to economic shifts and the appreciating nature of this asset, so it’s reassuring to see the market agrees with us. It’s great news for our investors.” 

Knight Frank’s findings did not mention specific labels, rather it provides clearer insight into the evidence of growing interest in investment-grade wines. Although, as Nick Martin, CEO of the Wine Owners exchange, noted, there has been increased buyer interest in older, celebrated vintages of Bordeaux (another win for Liquid Opulence investors). He mentioned that he sees no end to the market momentum for the time being, particularly for 1996 and 2000 Bordeaux vintages. 

“It helps that the market is becoming much broader with more of the next generation starting to build their own collections,” Martin said. 

There is still good news for whisky investors, despite the 4% decline reported in the Knight Frank luxury index. Over the past 10 years, the “Rare Whisky” sub-index has risen by 483%. Learn how to get started investing in rare whisky here. 

Fine wine increased by 119% in that time, which places fourth in the 10-year investment ranking. 

If you’re interested in starting your wine investment portfolio, please contact one of our expert consultants and strike while the iron is hot.