Vinfolio Announces Wine Investment Service

Company offers turnkey wine investment service including expert advice, fine wine selection, full-service storage, and multiple selling options

San Francisco, CA, November 20, 2008 -- Vinfolio, the foremost fine wine and collector services company, announces a new turnkey service catering to investors interested in considering fine wine as an alternative to traditional investments.  Vinfolio’s new wine investment service provides a total solution to investors, whether wine-knowledgeable or not, including expert advice, fine wine selection, long-term climate-controlled storage of purchases, and multiple selling options when it’s time to sell.

Why invest in fine wine?

The Liv-ex 100 Fine Wine Index has outperformed the Dow Jones Industrial index since its inception in 2005.  In 2008 through October, the Liv-ex 100 has only declined 7.6% versus a decline of 29.7% for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.  With fine wine prices having fallen from recent levels, there has never been a better time to buy wines for the purposes of investment. “With our full-service approach to wine investing and unparalleled access to investment grade wines, Vinfolio is perfectly positioned to serve the needs of wine investors, “ says Vinfolio CEO, Stephen Bachmann.  “For a limited time, we are also offering five years of free storage with investments of $5,000 or more and average bottle prices of $100 or more.”

Why wine investing beats stock investing

Bachmann cites four key reasons why wine investing beats stock investing:

• The supply of each fine wine is fixed upon production and only shrinks over time as wine is consumed.  Moreover, in a recession, people tend to drink more as it's a cheaper pleasure than vacations, new cars, etc.
• Collectors tend to hold on to scarce wines when finally located and purchased given the difficulty in replacing them.  This reduces "liquidity" in a given wine and helps support price levels.
• Fine wine is a tangible collectible and benefits from the perceived security this provides relative to electronic entries in a brokerage firm account.  In addition, the intrinsic value of wine is not subject to the sort of risks affecting public companies (bankruptcy, access to capital for growth, political environment, etc.).
• The long-term supply of fine wine is relatively fixed as most top European producers have little room to plant additional vineyards.  The trends in global demand for fine wine, on the other hand, are fundamentally upwards (broader wine consumption, wealth creation in emerging economies combined with treatment of fine wine as a luxury good, and the likelihood of continuing decreases in import duties in these countries).  

About Vinfolio
Vinfolio is the foremost fine wine and collector services company serving wine lovers, enthusiasts and collectors worldwide. With an extensive selection of over 1,500 wines and a full complement of services and resources to find, buy, sell, manage and enjoy fine wine, Vinfolio delivers on its commitment to "fine wine, finer service." Founded in 2003 and headquartered in San Francisco, the company opened operations Hong Kong this fall to serve the Asian wine market. For more information, visit www.vinfolio.com.

For immediate release contact:
Rachel Blatt
Vinfolio, Inc.
415-946-1344
rachel@vinfolio.com