Reliability of futures providers.

Hard question to answer. This really depends on the retailer. I would pick someone who has been around for a while, or else a retailer who has been recommended by who "knows". Sometimes there is the possibility of buying futures from the winery itself, eg Tyrells, (Australia), release a futures semillon, which they are prepared to buy back a on release and offer 5.75% interest on your investment. I would have no problems whatsoever with this. Otoh I would be very wary of investing in a wine "portfolio" which will be later auctioned. In this case you are totally dependant on the investment company's choice of wines which may or may not increase in value. In this latter case I have heard some horror stories.

Ron Lel

As Ron said, it depends. There was a lot of defaults (especially a big Britsh house I believe) on some 1990 Bordeaux. The big American scandal was a Colorado company called Rare LLC, which left a lot of people holding the bag on 2000 futures. In hindsight, there were warning signs- I don't think they had a brick-and-mortar store, and their prices were a bit too good to be true.

I'm pretty confident re futures purchases. I only purchase from stores (Rochambeau, Zachys, Premier Cru) that have a long track record of reliability, a storefront with substantial inventory, and a personal history with me. Good prices matter, but only so far as you know you'll get the goods. Dale

Dale Williams Drop "damnspam" to reply

Thanks. I was reasonably comfortable with the suppliers (Premier Cru and klwines), and both seem to have been around for a while. They also have real storefornts,so I reckon I'm quite safe.

Thanks once again.

Pete

2 very well-regarded retailers, with long histiry with futures. One note re PC- they are a leading "gray-market" force. As they place their orders sometimes with European suppliers rather than US ones, sometimes their future orders arrive a bit later than others- but they do arrive! Dale

Dale Williams Drop "damnspam" to reply

A while back(probably 10 years) some people in Michigan claimed they had access to bordeaux futures at extremely good prices( do not know the trading/transfer arrangement of futures that end up being sold in the US). A number of reputible and large liquor stores purchased these futures, and resold them to customers. They also kept some for themselves. These futures were phonies. A number of stores claimed that the customer(end user) was the purchaser of the future, and that the customer got what was promised. In this case, a fruitless law suit.

A few of the stores made good on the futures to maintain their good name. I do know that Calvert-Woodley in DC was one of the stores that sold the bad futures, and it is my understanding that they made good on all of them. It is my understanding that all you buy is a piece of paper that someone bought from someone who bought it from someone else that guarantees that you get a case of 2003 chateau gronk.

It is actually surpris>I've been drinking wine for quite some time now,

Pete -- yes, they *did* make good on all of their futures contracts, at what I believe was a considerable cost (and headache) to them. I think this happened in the early-mid 1990's, after a container cargo ship broke in half during a storm while crossing the Atlantic. Half of the ship was able to get towed to a nearby port, but the other half sank. Guess which one sank? Yep, the one with Calvert Woodley's wine on it.

Rare events like this aside, most reputable retailers will stand by to deliver or otherwise make-good on their futures contracts. Stick with ones that have been doing it for awhile, and if you are in a state where problems can arise due to shipping concerns, pick one that is within driving distance or can ship to you (important in "felony" states).

Mark S