en primeur 2003 shows clear signs of bearing fruits for investors in Fine Wine

London, 23 February – With the advent of ‘en primeur’ 2003, now may be a perfect time to revisit the subject of investing in Fine Wine, and the fully flexible and tax free benefits open to investors through Europe’s leading wine investment house, Premier Cru Fine Wine Investments Ltd.

‘En primeur’ is the term used to describe the earliest stage of a wine’s life (i.e. still in the cask). The release of the wine is always in the spring of the year after the harvest; therefore the 2003 will be sold in the spring of 2004 and subsequently delivered in 2006. If the vintage is good, then the first few years is often when the wine makes its initial profit before settling into a steady rise as it matures. The two main price movements are seen as the three main tranches are released, and again when the wine is delivered.

Due to the extraordinary weather conditions in 2003, where the soaring summer temperatures affected the yield, producing a smaller vintage and early harvest, the resultant affect is a very limited production of this high quality wine, down 10-20% on last year. The 2003 ‘en primeur’ is therefore, if chosen carefully, regarded to be an extremely promising investment opportunity.

Fine Wine investment has historically benefited from being stable, easily realisable, consumable, low risk and portable. There are potentially enormous tax advantages to be had, since wine is treated as a wasting asset by the Inland Revenue and therefore not subject to capital gains tax. The overall benefits to investors, arising from spreading the risk of their portfolios could be wholly beneficial at times of stock market uncertainties as well as offering an emotional return.

One of the best ways to invest in ‘en primeur’ is through Premier Cru, Europe’s leading Fine Wine investment house. Premier Cru removes all the common drawbacks from other investment schemes by providing tailor made portfolios with no lock in periods, no up front or exit fees, nor early redemption penalties. Premier Cru chooses only the best wines of the vintage, and arranges all shipping from the chateaux.

Paula Golding, Managing Director at Premier Cru, stated: “As far as I’m aware there’s never been an ‘en primeur’ Bordeaux wine that has gone below the opening price over a five year investment period. With the ‘en primeur’ 2003 showing strong indications of being a great investment vintage, now is a highly opportunistic time for investors to review their investment portfolio and get involved in not only a tax free and flexible form of investing, but also one which can bring emotional returns.”

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Bishopsgate Communications T: 020 7430 1600
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About Premier Cru:

Premier Cru was founded in 1992 and is a family run company. Paula and Stacey-Lea Golding wholly own Premier Cru, and their original background is in financial services not fine wine. They fully understand the need to be able to invest profitably, and have the flexibility to be able to change a client’s investments according to their changing lifestyle.

They are one of the longest established specialist fine wine investment companies in the UK, and one of the key’s to their success is the fact that they do not hold stock. Therefore they are never in the position of having to choose wines from current stocks or using a broad buying technique where ‘one wine suits all’. They structure client’s portfolios according to their investment profile, based on the amount, the term and reason for the investment - if there is one. They are also able to mix their investment cellars to reflect a higher degree of flexibility if required, other than the standard low to medium risk cellars, frequently requested.

The buyers source the best wines in the market for each client on an individual basis. The prices are generally stable, but there can be some short term fluctuations in buying prices, a well priced wine today may be overpriced tomorrow and therefore another option will be sought.

Fine wine is one of the most flexible, tax efficient, stable and profitable forms of investment in the world, with a history that can be tracked back for over 300 years, as a market it has survived evolution, revolution and war. It is free of Capital Gains and Income Tax, Premier Cru buy, and sell, under bond so it is also free of VAT and Duty, and for Inheritance Tax purposes it is treated as a Chattel.

Range of Premier Cru investment plans include: Capital Investment; Annual Investment; Income; School fee; Wedding; and Pension.