Is Wine Right for Your Portfolio? A Financial Advisor Weighs in

Wine isn’t for everyone, whether for investment or to imbibe, but it certainly has its fans. Sales hit a rough patch in popularity in the early 2020s, however, which has been largely blamed on a declining baby boomer generation available to embrace it.

This isn’t to say that you wouldn’t want to put some of your investment dollars into wine, but there are some considerations.

Wine Business Woes

Wine’s woes in the 2020s have been blamed on a “supply imbalance” resulting from fewer people drinking it. Plunging sales have been evident in retail establishments, as well as in restaurants and direct purchases from vineyards. The wine industry was laboring under the weight of an overabundance of unsold wine and the grapes that make it as of 2024. There are more grapes than there are consumers who want to buy the wine that results from them.

The change has been blamed on the advent of anti-alcohol campaigns and fewer boomers, who have historically been passionate wine supporters. Vineyards have been forced to reach out to and try to befriend a younger demographic.

Investment-Grade Wines

There are wines, and then there are wines. The business’s hiccups of the 2020s have spread across a range of what’s available for investment and purchase, but you’re most likely not going to make money from that $14 bottle of pinot you grabbed at the liquor store last night. You’ll look at investment-grade fine wines if you want to invest.

These can be identified by the year they were produced, where they were fermented, the reputation of their vintners, and how they stand up to aging. The last factor can be critical, because investing in wine is a decidedly long-term option.

How to Invest in Wine

You have numerous options for investing in wine if you’re comfortable with waiting a while until your investment matures and ideally pays off. Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management suggests giving this investment a timeline of six to 10 years. It’s anticipated that your wine will increase in value during that time because age improves its quality.

Jake Falcon, founder and CEO of Falcon Wealth Advisors, cites direct bottle purchases, wine funds or managed portfolios, vineyard ownership or shares, and/or wine futures. “Each option varies in terms of risk, access, and required expertise,” he says.

Purchasing wine futures is a process that goes by the tantalizing name “en primeur.” You’re not buying bottles of wine in this case. You’re purchasing the beverage while it’s still tucked into a barrel, up to 18 months before it’s poured into glass bottles and delivered for potential sale at a profit.

Wine funds are set up and operate much like private equity funds. You’ll join other investors to pool your money in investment-caliber wine portfolios. Given the long-term nature of wine investment, you can anticipate that your invested money will be unavailable for at least five years.

You might also consider wine crowdfunding: contributing to loans to support wine projects, along with other investors.

And, of course, you can buy bottles of your selected wines. You might have to invest a little more in storage capabilities, and you’ll have to resist the urge to drink their contents, but this form of investment doesn’t require the cooperation of others and is the most common wine investment option.

Pros and Cons of Investing in Wine

Wine investments still have a lot going for them even during the industry’s upheaval in the 2020s. You’ll want to keep some potential disadvantages in mind as well, however.

Advantages

Morgan Stanley suggests that some wine investments can diversify your portfolio and mitigate risk. Returns were largely steady and positive for decades, if not centuries, even during times of economic upheaval. Wine typically exhibits less volatility than stocks. It isn’t immune to market volatility, but it’s often slower to react negatively.

Falcon cites these advantages of a wine investment:

• Portfolio diversification
• Tangible asset with intrinsic value
• Potential hedge against inflation
• Cultural and lifestyle appeal

Wine investments offer average returns of about 5% to 6% annually as of 2025. The stock market’s average return is 10% or so in 2025, but this type of investment comes with a good deal more volatility.

Disadvantages

Wine is still a consumable beverage at the end of the day, and it can be subject to unpredictable dips in quality as it ages. This can cause it to actually lose value, not just fail to earn you a significant return.

And the “long-term” description of this investment can’t be stressed enough. You most likely wouldn’t be able to sell quickly if you needed to recoup your investment due to a financial emergency, and proper storage can add up and become costly if you opt to purchase bottles rather than invest in funds.

“Wine’s long-term appreciation is driven by scarcity and aging, but it lacks the liquidity and transparency of stocks or bonds,” Falcon says. “It’s more comparable to collectibles or real estate in terms of holding period and exit strategy.”

He identifies these potential pitfalls:

• Illiquidity and long holding periods
• Storage and insurance costs
• Market concentration (dominated by a few regions and producers)
• Vulnerability to climate and regulatory shifts

Additional Considerations

Of course, there are still the dwindling baby boomer population and anti-alcohol campaigns to worry about. It has been anticipated that the wine industry’s supply imbalance won’t hit rock bottom until 2029 to 2031. An investment made today wouldn’t have time to reach fruition by that time anyway, however. Again, you’re in this type of investment for the long haul. It’s conceivable that you might want to invest now and wait it out.

White wines have also fared better than others, and the top-performing wines haven’t exhibited a decline in sales growth during this time.

The Bottom Line

No investment is perfect every single day. Investments go up and down by their very nature. The best choice for you can come down to your personal objectives, abilities, and tolerances.

“Wine investing requires specialized knowledge and patience,” Falcon says. “Investors should work with reputable platforms or advisors, ensure proper provenance and storage, and be realistic about returns.”