When wine collection becomes a provident fund

INVESTING in wine? In the 1980s that would have been regarded as a silly question. That question meant one equated wine with stocks and shares. Perish the thought! But look at the wine market today - it beggars the imagination when one notes what astronomical prices fine wines have escalated to these days.

A good example is Château Latour 1982 which opened en primeur in mid-1983 at £295 for a case of 12 bottles - £25 per bottle. (As did all the other Firsts.) As I had tentatively decided it might be a good idea to buy my favourite Château in a widely-acclaimed great vintage at a reasonable price, I took the plunge.

I still vividly remember picking up the phone (no mobile in those days) and calling Corney & Barrow in London; and asked to speak to the general manager, Richard Peat.