John Morgan founded Morgan Classic Wines (MCW) in 1999, after twenty successful years distributing wine to the licensed trade in the UK.

MCW is today one of the UK’s pre-eminent fine wine traders having sold to date over £200 million of the worlds finest wines since the company’s inception.

MCW also acts as a brokerage house trading both nationally and internationally with regular exports to more than thirty countries around the world. The Managing Director, John Morgan, has forty years of experience in buying and selling fine wine.

Wine is bought occasionally direct from the producer or more often on the secondary market from an extensive network of trade and private cellars and collectors in the UK and continental Europe.

London has long stood as the worldwide hub of the secondary market in the great wines of France, Italy, Germany & Spain and as production has improved dramatically also the finest wines of the New World.

MCW holds over £6m of stock in cellars in London’s finest long-term storage facility London City Bond and sells around £500,000 of fine and rare wine each and every month.

Opportunities abound in the efficacy of investing in wine over a minimum five year term. Strict conditions and parameters exist of course (the market is entirely unregulated) so the pedigree of the supplier is as important as that of the wine chosen to invest in.

Solid and attractive growth has been, and still can be, recorded in wine investments.  MCW’s competitors generally cite extreme examples of outlandish returns that used to occasionally occur in previous decades. However, most producers have become wise to the worldwide demand that is for ever growing for their best wines that by definition are not available in greater quantities and have in turn raised release prices in line.

This makes the job of selecting the right wines in which to invest only more important.

MCW has over forty years of picking the correct stocks… Oh and profits in wine are (currently) not subject to Capital Gains Tax – always worth remembering…

• Wines to be In Bond in a recognized professional bonded warehouse & in original packaging – with correct provenance.
• Wines to be held in an individual named account with rotation numbers issued to the client and insured at replacement cost.
• Portfolio to be predominantly high-end Bordeaux & Burgundy with a proven track record.
• Other areas to consider include Champagne, Rhone and iconic wines from other countries.
• Vintages chosen must be long lasting and highly reputed. Most current new releases from all areas are renowned as too expensive so those already in the secondary market are recommended.
• Wines to be in original cases whenever possible.
• The wine market is unregulated therefore use a trusted company with a good reputation – avoid management fees & cold callers.
• Wine is classed a wasting asset so is currently free from CGT – BUT seek independent advice from professionals.
• Minimum term suggested is five years. Remember the longer it is held the scarcer it becomes by its nature.
• Wine Investment has the chance to lose as well as make money.