Buying wine at auction or via specialist platforms is a tempting gamble when you consider the prices fetched by certain grands crus. The performance of the investment will depend not only on the purchase price, but also on the quality of the asset, how well it is held and how long it is held. For investors too, wine needs to be handled with care.

Buying wine for pleasure, with a view to tasting it, or as an investment with the hope of selling it one day for a juicy capital gain, has become a fairly standard scenario for private individuals. And there's no reason why you can't cross-source. First, there is the world of auction houses, where numerous lots are sold, either as individual bottles or groups, or by the case. Faced with this rather abundant supply of 'second-hand' wines, of varying quality and with a wide range of prices from 20 euros to 8,000 euros, or even 10,000 euros a bottle, it's best to set a budget and know your tastes, so as to know what you're aiming for.

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