Whether you’re a wine connoisseur, a whiskey snob, or simply an investor eager to diversify into these classic asset classes, we’re confident you’ll find our process simple, straightforward, and enjoyable.
Unlike traditional investments where you might be left to navigate complex markets on your own, Vinovest portfolios are actively managed and strategically rebalanced to align with market trends, maximize returns, and minimize risk. This means you won’t have to worry about selecting individual bottles or timing the market—a task even seasoned collectors can find daunting. Instead, our experts leverage decades of experience, cutting-edge analytics, and a deep understanding of the fine wine and whiskey markets to build and maintain a diversified portfolio designed to grow over the long term.
This streamlined approach ensures that you enjoy all the benefits of holding these timeless assets without the complexity of managing them. By letting Vinovest handle the intricacies, you can focus on your financial goals while we take care of building and preserving your legacy.
Here’s what you can expect on your investing journey.
Step 1: Create an Account
Besides your basic information, we'll also ask you a few short questions to better understand your goals, risk tolerance, and time horizons. Your answers will help us select the best wines and whiskey for your portfolio.
Step 2: Fund Your Account
Our Starter tier begins with a minimum investment of $1,000 for wine and $1,750 for whiskey. For additional benefits and perks, you can upgrade to our Plus, Premium, and Grand Cru tiers. Read more about account tiers here.
Vinovest accepts bank account transfers, credit cards, debit cards, wire transfers, paper checks, and cryptocurrency.
Step 3: Vinovest Builds Your Portfolio
Once your account is funded, our master sommeliers use proprietary algorithms to choose the best wine and whiskey for your portfolio.
We source our wine and whiskey through direct connections worldwide to ensure the lowest possible prices, highest potential returns, and quickest possible timeline, but by nature, buying physical assets like these is not an immediate process. You should expect your holdings to be completed within two to three weeks.
During that time, we take numerous steps to not only secure the optimal selections for your portfolio, but also ensure that the bottles and casks themselves are kept in top-tier condition from merchant to storage and everywhere in between:
- Authentication: As with any luxury asset, value is predicated on authentication. We confirm the provenance and authenticity of every wine before adding it to your portfolio.
- Shipping: We ship your wine to our nearest bonded warehouse, which minimizes our carbon footprint.
- Storage: Your wine is held in the highest-quality, fully-bonded warehouses (in fact, the UK site is the same one used by the British royal family). Humidity and temperature control, on-site security, and 24/7 CCTV keep your wines safe and in top condition.
- Insurance: We back every portfolio with a full insurance policy. In the unlikely event that anything should happen to your wine, you will be compensated with full market price.
- Proof of Ownership: Every time you add wine to your portfolio, we'll provide you with ownership certificates. These legal documents prove that you are the sole owner of the bottles.
When we’ve successfully completed these steps, the process is complete, and your portfolio is stocked. You’ll receive an email letting you know your holdings have been secured.
Step 4: Your Wine and Whiskey Ages, Your Portfolio Grows, and Your Assets Are Held Securely
The adage is true: just like fine wine, your portfolio improves with age—and the clock starts now. Your wine and whiskey are held in fully-bonded, climate-controlled warehouses and storage facilities where they’ll gradually undergo the chemical processes that bring their flavors to peak quality.
In the meantime, you’ll have real-time access to your portfolio growth through the Vinovest platform.
Our portfolio advisors will also periodically reach out with tailored buying opportunities as they arise, so you can add blue-chip wines and coveted whiskies to further diversify your collection.
As the market moves and the value of your portfolio moves with it, we’ll also make sure that your allocations stay on target with your ideal risk profile by actively rebalancing your holdings as needed.
Step 5: It’s Time: The Optimal Moment to Sell
Every wine has a multi-year drinking window where it achieves peak quality, while every whiskey must be aged to perfection before it can be bottled and consumed. While we recommend anticipating a hold time of about 5-10 years for wine and 4-7 years for whiskey, the actual timing will depend on the specific wines and whiskies you hold in your portfolio. Our experts analyze a robust set of data points as well as market relationships to determine when a wine or whiskey will peak in value—and therefore when to sell.
When you sell your holdings, you can either reinvest the proceeds in wine or whiskey, or withdraw them to an external account.
That said, selling is only one option when your holdings are at their prime: you can continue to store your bottles, or have them shipped to you to drink yourself.
Note: fine wine and whiskey are long-term, illiquid assets. Selling wine and whiskey outside of its ideal selling window may result in the rate of appreciation not covering costs and expenses, such as Vinovest transaction fees and third party costs to sell the wine or spirit. For more information, please read our Terms and Conditions.