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The price of wine

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  • Dimson, Elroy
  • Rousseau, Peter L.
  • Spaenjers, Christophe

Abstract

Using historical price records for Bordeaux Premiers Crus, we examine the impact of aging on wine prices and the long-term investment performance of fine wine. In line with the predictions of an illustrative model, young maturing wines from high-quality vintages provide the highest financial returns. Past maturity, famous châteaus deliver growing non-pecuniary benefits to their owners. Using an arithmetic repeat-sales regression over 1900–2012, we estimate a real financial return to wine investment (net of storage costs) of 4.1%, which exceeds bonds, art, and stamps. Returns to wine and equities are positively correlated. Finally, we find evidence of in-sample return predictability.

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  • Dimson, Elroy & Rousseau, Peter L. & Spaenjers, Christophe, 2015. "The price of wine," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(2), pages 431-449.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfinec:v:118:y:2015:i:2:p:431-449
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jfineco.2015.08.005
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    4. Fabien Candau & Florent Deisting & Julie Schlick, 2017. "How Income and Crowding Effects Influence the World Market for French Wines," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(5), pages 963-977, May.
    5. Masset, Philippe & Weisskopf, Jean-Philippe & Cardebat, Jean-Marie & Faye, Benoît & Le Fur, Eric, 2021. "Analyzing the risks of an illiquid and global asset: The case of fine wine," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 1-25.
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    9. Mert Hakan Hekimoğlu & Burak Kazaz, 2020. "Analytics for Wine Futures: Realistic Prices," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 29(9), pages 2096-2120, September.
    10. Kevin Hoefman & Aaron Bramson & Koen Schoors & Jan Ryckebusch, 2018. "The impact of functional and social value on the price of goods," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(11), pages 1-12, November.
    11. Laurs, Dries & Renneboog, Luc, 2019. "My kingdom for a horse (or a classic car)," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 184-207.
    12. Li, Yuexin & Ma, X. & Renneboog, Luc, 2021. "Pricing Art and the Art of Pricing : On Returns and Risk in Art Auction Markets," Other publications TiSEM 8d25ec25-78dc-4cdc-b054-f, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    13. Jean-Marie CARDEBAT & Philippe MASSET & Jean-Philippe WEISSKOPF, 2020. "Covid-19 and fine wines: the ‘perfect blend’ for a severe headache?," Bordeaux Economics Working Papers 2020-05, Bordeaux School of Economics (BSE).
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    15. Dobrynskaya, Victoria & Kishilova, Julia, 2022. "Lego: The Toy Of Smart Investors," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
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    17. Eric Le Fur & Jean-François Outreville, 2019. "Fine wine returns: a review of the literature," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(3), pages 196-214, May.
    18. Masset, Philippe & Maurer, Frantz, 2021. "Mitigating downside risk of portfolio diversification: Wine versus other tangible assets," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
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    23. Correia, Leonida & Rebelo, João & Caldas, José, 2015. "Production and Trade of Port Wine: Temporal Dynamics and Pricing," Agricultural Economics Review, Greek Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 16(1), pages 1-15.
    24. Fur, Eric Le, 2021. "Fine Wines in a Diversified Portfolio of Collectibles," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315852, International Association of Agricultural Economists.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Wine prices; Alternative investments; Price indexes; Psychic return; Bubbles;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C43 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Index Numbers and Aggregation
    • D44 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Auctions
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • Q11 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Aggregate Supply and Demand Analysis; Prices
    • Z11 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economics of the Arts and Literature

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