Wine Futures, or put another way, paying for the privilege of owning a wine years before it will ever see the inside of a bottle, have been taking a hit lately, as more and more people (noticeably cash poor) are foregoing this practice in favor of, oh, what’s the word…sanity maybe.
For years the major French wine houses – and even some cult brands here in the States - have sold their wine to willing consumers well before their release date as a way to not only raise capital for these expensive wines but I say also as one more example of snobbery in belonging to an elite club of folks for whom money was clearly no object.
And now that the economic landscape continues to flow along with the speed of continental shelf drift, suddenly the idea of spending one’s money on something that doesn’t quite exist, no longer seems like such a good idea.
Shockingly perhaps, I’m amazed that other industries did not catch on to this practice and use it for their own gain. You know, walk into a Best Buy ready to plunk down $1500.00 on a new flat screen and as the helpful salesman rings you up for the full price he says, “Here’s your receipt. We hope to be shipping these TV’s by 2013. And boy is it going to be worth the wait.”
You’d go for that transaction right?
What I love about this story is that once again this financial mess is righting the world on its proper axis. Or am I the only fool who expects to physically get something when I buy it?
Yes, wine does take time to mature properly, even to merely allow it to attain a quality that warrants it reaching a consumer’s hand. And yes, many of these wines are of the blue chip variety that are sometimes bought and sold like stocks (and we all know how good that’s going).
But there’s a certain arrogance that comes from profiting on your product, a cash advance if you will, on simply the promise that said product will deliver everything its advertised to be. Again, imagine not being able to test drive a car before you drove it off the lot. Wouldn’t happen. Couldn’t happen.
As a wine consumer I have expectations that a certain wine in a certain year will be of great quality. Hey for many of these fine wines and their equally fine winemakers, the wines in question will be decent in even sub par years.
So I’ll tell you what, I’ll buy your wines when they’re released. As for the cash you need to make them, well, that’s going to have to come out of your pocket. And I’m happy others are starting to feel the same way.
