Falling Prices & Bailout Wine

If you’re like me, you sometimes grow weary of daily credit-crunch reports and industry bailout news. Much better to gather friends and enjoy a bottle of wine. But, all of this financial stuff does having a bearing on the wine world.

According to an article in Forbes, prices on tradeable fine wines have been falling drastically. The Live-Ex 100 Fine Wine Index fell 5.5% from last year in November (the index tracks 100 tradeable wines), and then another fifth since then. Some wines are even available at half of last year’s value. If you’re sitting on a stockpile of investment wines, this will come as bad news. But, if you’re looking at buying some investment wines, now may be a great time to browse.

Current events have also inspired another clever gimmick from Crushpad, the makers of the Fusebox that WINO reviewed in November’s First Impressions. According to a press release, Crushpad has begun to sell futures on a 2007 Cab Sauv called Bailout from Napa Valley. The novelty here, though, is the price.  Bailout sells for $39 per bottle, but for every 100-point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Index between the date of purchase and the bottling date (projected in August 2009), Crushpad will drop the price $2, and issue refunds to purchasers. Sounds like a safe bet for wine speculators.