WineFi: Investing in a Private Portfolio or a Syndicate? 📈 🍷

At WineFi, we offer two distinct solutions for investors looking to access this fascinating asset class.

Until now, building a private portfolio — akin to a traditional wine collection — has been the primary route for wine investment. While offering flexibility and direct ownership, this approach typically requires significant capital, as investors must purchase individual bottles outright.

WineFi’s investment syndicates provide an alternative option, allowing investors to access a diversified, professionally curated portfolio with a starting commitment from £3,000. This structure offers a lower entry point compared to constructing a private portfolio independently, while maintaining autonomy through a self-governed framework.

In both cases, we arrange storage and insurance at our purpose-built warehouse, Coterie Vaults, passing on preferential rates and applying our market-leading, data-driven stock selection methodology.

In this week’s newsletter, we explore the pros and cons of both options.

Option 1: Private Portfolio

In simple terms, when we refer to a private portfolio we are talking about a collection of wines that a single investor owns outright. If you are looking to invest a larger sum in wine, we will work with you to source, store, and exit a portfolio of this value.

We will work with you to select a portfolio in line with risk preference, horizon, and any specific regions, vintages, producers, or labels. We will then use our analysis, and supply-side expertise to identify and source wines at a discount to market where possible.

We will then arrange the storage of the portfolio at our purpose-built warehouse, Coterie Vaults – passing on the preferential storage rates that we receive to our investors.

Option 2: Wine Investment Syndicate

At WineFi, we run thematic investment syndicates, enabling investment in a tax-efficient, diversified portfolio at a fraction of the cost of owning the underlying assets outright.

• We provide a ‘permitted investment’ list outlining the producers in scope, alongside a detailed analysis of the theme, estimated returns, and portfolio structure.

• Allocations are pro-rata to the total investment amount — invest £30,000 in a £300,000 portfolio and you are entitled to 10% of the exit proceeds.

• Once allocations are closed, WineFi will opportunistically source wines based on our data analysis, Investment Committee recommendations, and spot offers we receive.

• As with private portfolios, we arrange storage at our purpose-built warehouse, Coterie Vaults, passing on preferential rates to investors.

• We field offers and sell down the wines over the portfolio’s lifetime, providing returns throughout the hold period.

• Importantly, syndicate members maintain full day-to-day control via a voting system — including the ability to vote WineFi out as portfolio operator if they wish!

If you would like to view the docs for our latest syndicate - The Icon Collection - please sign up to the WineFi Platform below.

Syndicate Sourcing Update

We’re excited to share that we’ve developed a virtual buying assistant to further strengthen our sourcing capabilities. This new tool enables us to analyse spot offer lists in bulk, allowing us to apply our market-leading data methodology at much greater scale and speed. By streamlining this critical part of our process, we can identify the most compelling opportunities more efficiently than ever before, enhancing the breadth and quality of wines we bring to the syndicate.