Lafite is leading investment of the noughties

Forget collectible Corgis, modern art, a Knightsbridge flat, even gold, the best investment of the decade is a case of Château Lafite Rothschild 1982.

Looking at the price appreciation of a range of items over the past ten years, The Guardian found fine wine was the best investment, with Lafite leading the way with a near 900% return.

The data used was the Liv-ex Mid Price, which shows a 12-bottle case of Lafite on December 31 1999 as £2,613 and £25,500 on October 31 2009 – a return of 876%.

The article in Saturday’s newspaper also refers to the Liv-ex Fine Wine Investables Index, which tracks the price of top vintages from 24 leading chateaux. This showed a rise of 176% over the same period, or approximately 11% compound annual growth.

As for further alternative investments mentioned in the feature, had one bought a 1972 Ferrari 246 Dino at a Monaco auction in 2000 for £35,000 it could now be sold for £90,000, while Claude Monet’s Au Parc Monceau fetched £3.7m at auction in June 2001 but sold this year for £6.3m – a rise of 71% over almost a decade.

Back to fine wine, and for the future, The Guardian also listed some top investment tips according to Simon Staples, sales and marketing director at Berry Bros. & Rudd.

These were:

• 2008 Mouton Rothschild (£3,000 per case)
• 2008 Lafite Rothschild (£4,960 per case)
• 2008 Latour (£3,600 per case)
• 2006 Lafite Rothschild (£4,000 per case)
• 2005 Lafite Rothschild (£8,000 per case)

Patrick Schmitt, 26.11.09