THERE is a wine futures market, or en primeur as it is better known in French, where people buy wine early.

Buying en primeur means you buy futures in a wine hoping its quality and value will leap in later years. When you buy en primeur, you pay for the wines upfront, with the merchants' assurance that you will get the wine when it is released from the chateau or vineyard two years after the vintage.

As with any investment, there are risks involved. If the merchant disappears or becomes insolvent during the period, you stand to lose your wine and money.

But there are advantages too. Investors can secure stocks that are otherwise difficult to obtain while being guaranteed of getting them at their first-released prices, says Mr Jeremy Kasler, managing director of Australian Wine Index.

'With wines like Mount Mary, it is very difficult to get them on release, as there is a huge waiting list,' said Mr Kasler, referring to the blue-chip label from Yarra Valley.

Just like an initial public offer for a firm's stock, the price of the en primeur upon release will depend on the reputation of the grower and the quality of the product.

Wine investor Curtis Montgomery says that usually, only wine investors with a strong relationship with negotiants (wine merchants including Georges Duboeuf and Louis Jadot) will be allocated wine en primeur at reasonable prices.

'This certainly creates a disadvantage for a small wine investor,' he says.

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