ICON WINES OF THE WORLD

 

What makes a wine a cult wine? Are only rare wines cult wines? Does a cult wine need tradition? Does it need high ratings by critics? In any case a cult wine has to be very much in demand. And to be in demand means most often rare (produced in limited quantities), exquisite and expensive. I think its a combination of all these things that make a wine a cult wine. Even wine collectors are sometimes responsible for the development of cultwines. They would rather put it into a showcase than destroy - meaning: drink - a great bottle of wine. It´s like an object of art. Not all cultwines are offering great drinking-pleasure. Although ALL of these wines have one thing in common: in the long-term they are not only the most expensive but also the best wines in the world.


Blue Chips of the wine world.
Finest Bordeaux cult wines – especially the best vintages  in larger bottles than the usual 75cl – are always  worth to speculate on.

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DRC, LE PIN, PETRUS & CO

 

Everyone knows what a BMW, a Mercedes or a Rolls Royce is. Rembrandt, Da Vinci oder Picasso are well known too. And what about Mozart, Verdi, Gershwin? Of course you know them. But Grange, Masseto or Cheval Blanc tell only wine-lovers what´s behind the name. Wine critics like R. Parker (eRobertParker.com) or M. Shanken (Winespectator) made wine more presentable and collectible. In every metropolitan area in Europe it´s quite common that you may find a bottle of wine for € 5,00 next to a Mouton Rothschild for € 500,00 in supermarkets or even drugstores. Wine is a kind of culture in todays world and belongs to a sound general knowledge. Where you, dear reader, buy your bottle of wine, is up to you. But have you ever noticed that cult wines are not only offered in the store around the corner, but more often in online-auction sites? I don´t want to prefer one or the other but to name the global player of these online-auctions - it´s ebay!

Worldwide renowned for longevity: sweet wines from Sauternes/Bordeaux 

Domain Romanee Conti (DRC), Le Pin, Petrus, Latour, Screaming Eagle and all cult wines are offered at reasonable prices. eBay.com is The World's Online Marketplace®, enabling trade on a local, national and international basis. The world is globalized and even I use eBay to sell the one or the other bottle of my growing cellar. Worldwide from Austria? YES! I have sold a some bottles of Mouton Rothschild from Salzburg/Austria to Australia, almost 10 000 miles away, without any problems. The bottles arrived in perfect condition within 5 days. That´s what make trade on an international basis like eBay interesting and profitable for winecollectors.

Online-auction marketplaces like ebay became established in the last few years. Since then wine-merchants discovered a way to get rid of overfilled cellars and stocks. And not only industrialized wines are put up for auction but more and more gems of the wine world. It´s not unusual anymore to bid on and win a case of Masseto or Lafite Rothschild at an auction house. Why not? And if the seller is a well known merchant? Be happy, you´ll get good stuff. But more and more private sellers use this platform. But also fraud is possible. So watch out what and where you are buying. Every collector starts with some distinguished wines. The collection will – be sure - grow faster than you want it to grow. A beginners stake of about 150 bottles may be doubled every year, no matter what your budget is. Believe me. You´ll be obsessed pretty soon. Still you should have a spending limit within your financial resources and decide on a cellar strategy. Much money can be saved by knowing where to buy. Your retailer is only one option of many in todays wineworld. And the price you pay for most collectible wines is not always the market value.

Author of the WPI: Werner Feldner

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DRC, LE PIN, PETRUS & CO

 

But what is the market value for a great wine? Since there is no place like a Wall Street for wine it´s very hard to define the market value. But if you take an average of all prices achieved for one and the same wine this could be it. The first address for such an average price list is Liv-ex, London. In Great Britain you may also find certain wine prices on the Fine Wine Tracker in the Decanter Magazine. In the USA you can find similar features in the Wine Spectator´s Auction Index. And WineCollects WPI accomplishes what you are looking for if you are a private collector. Since the year 2003 almost every wine auction on ebay in Germany and Austria is observed. Thousand of bottles of wine (including worthless liquids that don´t deserve the term wine) are sold on ebay everyday. Worldwide. The result is: over 100 000 price-entries of more than 200 of the greatest wine estates of the world can be found in WineCollects WPI. Prices of all vintages and all bottle sizes (0,375l and larger) sold on ebay are represented. You will find current, lowest and highest prices of each wine. Therefore it´s rather easy to tell what your wines are worth. And the name of the game is supply and demand. These are the most important facts for wine prices.

Even rare Champagne, Single Malt or Cognac of the finest producers are objects to speculate on.

All prices are given in € (Euro). Exchange Rates to $ (US Dollar) or GBP (British Pounds) differ due to daily changes.

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