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Fine wine is a tangible asset that has an inherent value not experienced with stocks and shares. You own the wine and this gives you the added benefit of being able to drink your wines, if you wish.

Most winemakers make a limited number of bottles per year (i.e. vintage) and this means wines from a specific year have a limited supply. If you consider a famous Château may make 10,000 cases of wines per vintage, each year this number can only decrease as wines are drunk.

The fine wine market typically outperforms other assets, equities and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and continues to be unaffected by the wider global markets (Liv-Ex).

Most fine wine is classed as a wasting asset, which makes it exempt from any Capital Gains Tax (CGT). A wasting asset is “an asset with a predictable life not exceeding fifty years at the time when it was acquired”, according to HMRC.

Avant Wine cannot give specific tax advice and you should always seek advice based on your personal circumstances.

Past performance is not indicative of future results. The value of an investment may go down as well as up and you may not get back the money you invested.

Wine is precious and needs looking after. To preserve wine and ensure it ages as intended, wine needs the following:

• Cool, consistent temperature between 10-15°C

• A dark area away from strong sunlight or bright light

• To be kept on their side (if sealed with a cork)

• Kept away from vibrations/large noises

• As little movement and disturbance as possible

Across the UK, wine warehouses keep wines in these optimal conditions and have the benefit of being held ‘in-bond’. In-bond means that neither duty nor tax have been paid on the wines. To take wines out of the warehouse for drinking, duty and tax must be paid.

It is much easier to trade wines that are in-bond as the wines will typically stay where they are but the ownership will change. The new owner can then decide if he wants to keep the wines in-bond or withdraw it for drinking.

All wines invested through Avant Wine are stored at Octavian, “the world's number one in fine wine storage”.

Storage costs vary across the country but typically anywhere between £8-£15 per case of 12x75cl bottles per annum. This includes full insurance of the current value of the wines and professional storage ensures the quality of the wine is maintained.

All storage fees are included within the annual management fee so there is no additional cost to you.

All wines that are part of your portfolio are owned solely by you. You will have full visibility on what wines have been purchased, how much they were purchased for and their current valuation according to the Liv-Ex via a quarterly report.

You have three options:

Hold
If you want to see your investment increase over a sustained period of time you are advised to hold on to your portfolio of wines until they are ready to sell. Fine wine takes between 3-5 years for full maturation and returns to start.

Sell
Wine does not have an unlimited shelf-life so at some point it is wise to sell your wine. Most fine wines have a substantial drinking window between 10-35 years although some wines can live up to 100 years and beyond.

Drink
The wine that is invested for you is yours to sell or drink. You may decide to withdraw a case of a wine that interests you. To withdraw your wines, duty and tax must be paid, which is not covered by your management fee.

Avant Wine can assist you making the right choice depending on your financial goals and circumstances. This will include deciding the right time to buy and sell wines within your portfolio.

There are platforms for selling wine like eBay, including WineOwners Exchange, Liv-Ex and LiveTrade. Wines can either be listed for a fixed price or a bid can be made on wines in your portfolio from potential buyers.

Selling wine does incur a trading fee. This commission is taken by the trading platform and is usually no more than 5% of the selling price.

Avant Wine can advise on when to sell the wines within your portfolio and you can choose to have a managed portfolio or passive portfolio.

If your portfolio is managed, Avant Wine will sell wines and re-invest the monies back into your initial investment to buy more wine. If the portfolio is passive, Avant Wine will invest your money and let it mature organically.

Avant Wine will ensure that all invested wines meet a particular criterion that includes a combination of high professional reviews, long-drinking window, noteworthy appeal to future buyers, experience of being sold on the secondary market and (most importantly) wines that are likely to increase in value.

If you have a preference on certain wines this can be incorporated into your portfolio to ensure you are investing in wines that you are personally interested in. This also gives you the option to drink these in the future, if you wish.

Avant Wine charge a management fee of 5% of your portfolio value payable every six months.

All fees are inclusive of VAT and your first fee is payable within the first month of investing with Avant Wine. The management fee will then be payable on the value of your portfolio on the half anniversary of when you started investing.

There are no additional fees for selling wines, storing your wines or insuring your wines. This is all covered as part of your management fee.