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- Fine Wine Valuations: The WineFi Approach
Fine Wine Valuations: The WineFi Approach
Plus - Invest in Bordeaux from £50, and a new podcast episode.
WineFi
25 Nov
Valuing fine wine is a complex process. For investors, the most relevant price is the one at which they can sell their wine. However, in a similar manner to if you were selling a house, this price often remains uncertain until the actual point of sale.
The industry standard for wine valuation typically involves matching the lowest offer available on the market for a specific case. However, challenges arise when:
No offer exists for the specific wine on the market.
The only offer available is for a different format (e.g., a magnum instead of a bottle).
The offer in question pertains to a different quantity (e.g., a single bottle versus a case of three).
The offer data is outdated, potentially months or years old.
To provide transparency and objectivity, WineFi members now see two distinct prices when accessing their platform accounts: the Wine-Searcher Price and the Liv-ex Price. Both are sourced from reputable, third-party platforms to ensure accuracy and impartiality.
What these pricing tools are, and how they differ.
Wine-Searcher:
All listings on Wine-Searcher are purchasable by members of the public, and represent how merchants are pricing the wines they sell to private buyers.
Wine-Searcher uses listings from thousands of online stores.
From Wine-Searcher, we prioritise the lowest bonded price for the specific wine, in the specific format that is owned by the investor.
Liv-ex:
The Liv-ex is only accessible by vetted members of the wine trade, and is a platform that allows trade members to buy and sell wine.
The Liv-ex have their own market price logic, which factors in case and bottle size, how long the offer has been live, along with a number of other factors.
Liv-ex Market Prices will also come with a ‘confidence rating’ - outlining how accurately they think the market price actually represents the price of the wine.
Two-Step Process
Despite this comprehensive valuing methodology, the rare nature of the wines that our investors own means that often a qualitative lens must be applied when pricing.
While they can log in and track the value at any time, investors will also receive a portfolio report twice a year from our Investment Committee. This will provide an in-depth reflection of their portfolio and its position in the market, and account for the ‘intangibles’ that make the wine trade truly unique.
Investors also have direct access to the WineFi team at any time for any matters regarding their portfolio.
Syndicate Members
As the new update rolls out, syndicate members will be able to log in to their account and see their investments automatically categorised using our label functionality.
All syndicate members will receive a platform login, and those that have reinvested in multiple syndicates will be able to narrow down their view to focus on one, or any number of their investments.
We are thrilled to share that our latest partnership with Splint Invest is now live, and will allow users to invest in a diversified portfolio of Bordelaise wines from as little as €50.
The portfolio contains wines from the most prestigious producers in Bordeaux, such as Cheval Blanc, Mouton Rothschild, Latour, and a number of others.
With a low entry threshold, this portfolio is an excellent opportunity to diversify your portfolio and take advantage of the stability and growth potential of this prestigious wine region.
The Wine Investing Podcast - New Episode
The latest episode of The Wine Investing Podcast sees us joined by Marc LaFleur, founder of Lafleur Wines.
LaFleur Wines is a Geneva-based family-owned wine merchant that offers a complete wine ecosystem.
Marc has had an adventurous journey, which has taken him from a fishing boat in the Bering Straits to a commodities trading firm, and finally to starting a prestigious wine merchant.
