We've all noticed.  The prices of top wines have been going through the roof.  The most recent issue of The World of Fine Wine, #18, includes an excellent article titled The Changing Nature of Wine Collecting by Claude Kolm which assembles the trends which have led to the current situation.

Among his observations as driving factors are: 

• Globalization of demand and the advent of the Internet for wine marketing
• "Winner take all" economies leading to large wealth accumulation
• The emergence of wine as a status symbol or luxury good
• Wine as an asset class for investment purposes
  
• The very wealthy seeking the scarcest wines to obtain a degree of exclusivity or "trophies"

Unfortunately, he concludes that current trends will continue for top wines and that prices may stay out of the reach of ordinary wine lovers.  I agree with him.  See my post from September titled Why fine wine prices will keep rising.

What can you do?

Diversify.  Have the confidence in your own palate to try wine from new producers and "less famous" regions.  Ask your wine retailer or wine friends for recommendations.  Part of the fun of wine collecting is discovering new wines whose quality has yet to be recognized by the world.  Lead the way -- don't follow.

P.S.    Thank you to Sara at The World of Fine Wine for posting the article on their site for free download so I could link to it in this post.   Also, see my prior post titled The magazine for wine collectors in case you need any further persuasion to subscribe.  Special deal: The editors at The World of Fine Wine were so "chuffed" (as they say in England) at my mention of their magazine that they are offering a 15% discount on their subscription price to the readers of this blog.  Just follow this link.