Had enough of the stock market? Try investing in wine

close

Video

An intoxicating investment

Sergio Esposito, Founder of Italian Wine Merchants in NYC, has created a lucrative way for wine lovers around the world to invest their money. In 2010, Esposito launched The Bottled Asset Fund, the world’s first Italian-focused fine wine investment fund.

More and more people are buying wine, not just for pleasure, but as an investment.

Even Goldman Sachs was willing to accept almost 15,000 bottles of fine wine as loan collateral from a former high-ranking executive, according to a regulatory filing last month.

Wine lovers and Wall Street pros see the value and want to invest. So it’s no surprise a wine investment fund would surface. The Bottled Asset Fund (BAF), launched in 2010, is the world’s first Italian-focused fine wine investment fund.

The market for Italian wine is growing globally, with export markets, like Asia, driving up value. Hence, the BAF currently is projected to return profits to its investors, net of fees, of over 30 percent. Can’t even get close to that investing in the stock market these days.

Most recently the fund bought the historic collection of Biondi-Santi Brunello di Montalcino valued at $5 million. The Biondi-Santi estate is widely recognized as the creator of Italy’s most important wine, Brunello di Montalcino, and, more importantly, it introduced wines for long-term aging to the Italian wine culture.

This 7,000-bottle acquisition spans 1945 to 1975 and includes hundreds of bottles of the cult 1955 and 1964 vintages, representing a unique addition to the BAF portfolio.

And with so much interest from investors, the fund’s management company, Vino Management Corporation, plans to launch another fund by the end of 2013, with the goal to commit $25 million.

So you want a piece? Current minimum investment is about $50,000, according to Sergio Esposito, the fund’s director who has been in the Italian wine business for over 30 years.

He is also the founder of Italian Wine Merchants in Manhattan, one of the most thorough Italian wine stores in the country.

So if the stock market volatility is keeping you up at night, maybe investing in the BAF would be a better option.

Don’t have the money? Then just have a glass of wine before bed.

Cent’ Anni.