Wine Investment Claims

Has Your Wine Investment Been "Corked" By Scammers ?

Many investors see fine wines as an attractive alternative investment to stocks and shares and in recent years some of the returns that have been obtained by investors has been very impressive compared to the returns obtained on the stock market as world markets have been particularly turbulent.

The problem with investing in wine is that the scenario regarding how people invest in wine provides the "perfect storm" for some unscrupulous companies to operate purely with a view to defrauding members of the general public. Whilst there are many bona fide businesses operating in this field that have existed for many years and will continue to do so there are many others that appear overnight, produce an impressive website, produce glossy brochures and then disappear with investors money.

The normal scenario is that investors will be encouraged to invest in wine while it is still in the barrel and ageing which is termed "en primeur" whereby the wine in question may not be bottled for several years and in particular if the wine is red it may take anything between seven to ten years to age. When this wine is eventually bottled and sold then if it is a well known brand from Bordeaux etc it could increase in value many times over by the time it becomes available to the general public. The yield on these wines is therefore somewhat higher than what many investors could reasonably expect to return on many other forms of investment which makes it an attractive investment.

Typically once vintage wines have been bottled they will then be stored in a bonded warehouse in a temperature controlled environment for a further period of time which means that many investors never physically see their investment for a long period of time if at all before it is sold. These extended time frames are not only good for the quality of the wine they also serve a use to the fraudster. This is because the investor will not have expected to have been in possession of their wine throughout this timeframe and by the time they discover there is an issue with their investment they tend to find the company holding their investment has disappeared along with their money!

Of course the "scams" are not just linked to fine wines but can also be linked to cognac, champagne or whisky to name but a few. In addition there have also been instances of wines appearing for sale which have been supplied with a counterfeit label thus implying the wine within the bottle is a vintage when obviously it is not.

We are particularly interested in hearing from people who have invested money in wine etc where the company you invested with has ceased trading or vanished where you have paid at least some of the money by using a credit card.

We do not charge any upfront fees and will work on a "no win no fee" agreement and charge you just 25% + vat of the refund you receive when your claim is successful.

For more information just fill and submit the enquiry form or call us on 01908 303655.