A Valuable Wine-Art Investment
Wine, just like art, is a long-term investment with the potential for large returns. Here is where they intersect.
One day in the 19th century, Nathaniel de Rothschild fell off a horse while hunting and became disabled. And what occupation is suitable for a disabled person? He bought Mouton vineyards in Bordeaux and decided to become a winemaker. In the 20th century, his descendant Philippe de Rothschild made Château Mouton Rothschild one of the five greatest French wines.
Since Philippe was also a patron of arts, he ordered wine labels for bottles of every harvest from artists no less great than his wine. And he never paid for this with money. Kandinsky, Braque, Dali, Miro, Chagall, Picasso, Warhol and many others received several cases of wine with their own label as a payment.
The wise baron was actually presenting each genius with an asset, the price of which is constantly growing. The lifespan of great wines is almost a hundred years and the price of the bottle increases with every passing year.
Thus, in 1997 a bottle of Chateau Mouton Rothschild of 1945 was sold at Christie’s auction for 114 thousand dollars. And this art-wine marathon already has more than seventy years of history.
Investment in wine is a long-term and specific project, it requires knowledge and constant attention to what is happening in the industry. However, for those who found their calling in it, it is pleasure, profit and lifelong work.
