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Thursday, 10 June 2010

Cold callers busy this summer: The London Wine Shop and Bordeaux Fine Wines

Two very recent enquiries about people cold called about investment wines – one on behalf of The London Wine Shop, the other Bordeaux Fine Wines.
The London Wine Shop

DJ's enquiry:
'I have been contacted by The London Wine Shop offering to sell me a case of Chateau Latour 2004 for £4,800. Do you know anything about this company and in your considered opinion is it a sound investment? They cold called me.'

My response:
No buying at this price is not a sound investment as wine-searcher shows that you can buy the same wine for £3445 from Bordeaux Wine Investments and for £3500 from Wilkinson Vintners.

I wouldn't buy wine from The London Wine Shop.

DJ has also been contacted by Encarta Fine Wines Ltd, which was founded on 9th July 2009. Its registered office is in Heddon Street, Mayfair, London. Encarta trades from Bromley. They quoted £4,950 including transportation, 5 years storage and insurance for the 2004 Latour.

I wouldn't buy wine from Encarta Fine Wines Ltd either because of their lack of a track record and the price for the Latour is hardly competitive.

*
Bordeaux Fine Wines Ltd

TM's enquiry:
'I have been rung by Bordeaux Fine Wines Ltd" asking if I wish to invest. It sounds an attractive proposition, with their 10% commission on any profits sounding good. is this company bona fide do you know? They are asking me to buy Chateau Pavie 2008 at £1,750 a case en primeur. I have queried the price with them [by phone to the salesman] who tells me when I come to sell, the price will be based on the average increase in price for the wine sold in the market over the time I have held the wine. The Bordeaux Fine Wines Ltd do look after you by ringing every month to let you know how the wine is doing, and the recommend good buys etc, at least that's what they say [no doubt also opportunities for a hard sell too!]. '

My response:
If you look at www.wine-searcher.com you will see that you can buy 2008 Pavie for £1165 a case from Justerini & Brooks, part of Diageo, the world's largest wine and spirit company.

I can see no reason for paying well over the odds from Bordeaux Fine Wines that was only founded on 18th September 2009, especially as you are buying this en primeur and BFW has no track record in supplying wines en primeur.

You will find a list of merchants I would consider buying investment wines from on my investdrinks blog. Bordeaux Fine Wines isn't one of these.


19 comments:

  1. I'm trying to get my money back from Bordeaux Fine Wines. When i did some checks with the bonded warehouse LCB they told me they only have a 150 cases of wine in their account!
    I also bought some 2008 en premiur which looks like a paid too much for. Dont buy from these cowboys.

    ReplyDelete
  2. An amended comment from anon:

    I'm trying to get my money back from Bordeaux Fine Wines. When I did some checks with the bonded warehouse LCB they told me they only have a 150 cases of wine in their account!

    I also bought some 2008 en primeur which looks like a paid too much for. Don't buy from this company.

    ReplyDelete
  3. New wine company details

    Current Appointments Report for:
    ARTEMIS BELLET LTD
    07216402


    Created: 11/06/2010 11:16:13

    Companies House is a registry of corporate information. We carry out basic checks to make sure that documents have been fully completed and signed, but we do not have the statutory power or capability to verify the accuracy of the information that corporate entities send to us. We accept all information that such entities deliver to us in good faith and place it on the public record. The fact that the information has been placed on the public record should not be taken to indicate that Companies House has verified or validated it in any way.


    Company Register Information
    Company Number: 07216402 Date of Incorporation:08/04/2010
    Company Name: ARTEMIS BELLET LTD
    Registered Office: 2ND FLOOR


    145-157 ST JOHN STREET

    LONDON

    ENGLAND

    EC1V 4PY
    Company Type: Private Limited Company

    Country of Origin: United Kingdom

    Status: Active

    Nature Of Business (SIC(92)): None Supplied
    Number of Charges: ( 0 outstanding / 0 part satisfied / 0 satisfied)




    Previous Names


    No previous name information has been recorded over the last 20 years.




    Key Filing Dates






    Accounting Reference Date: 30/04

    Last Accounts Made Up To: (NO ACCOUNTS FILED)

    Next Accounts Due: 08/01/2012

    Last Return Made Up To:


    Next Return Due: 06/05/2011





    Last Bulk Shareholders List: Not available



    Current Appointments
    Number of current appointments: 1





    DIRECTOR: CHAMBERS, IKE KARL MR

    Appointed: 04/06/2010 Date of Birth: 27/03/1978
    Nationality: BRITISH

    No. of Appointments: 1

    Address: 14A OSWARD ROAD

    TOOTING

    LONDON

    UNITED KINGDOM

    SW17 7SS

    Country/State of Residence: UNITED KINGDOM


    This Report excludes resignations


    Recent Filing History
    Documents filed since 08/04/2010

    DATE FORM DESCRIPTION
    07/06/2010 TM01 APPOINTMENT TERMINATED, DIRECTOR WESTCO DIRECTORS LTD
    07/06/2010 TM01 APPOINTMENT TERMINATED, DIRECTOR IAN TAYLOR
    04/06/2010 AP01 DIRECTOR APPOINTED MR IKE KARL CHAMBERS
    08/04/2010 NEWINC CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATIONGENERAL COMPANY DETAILS & STATEMENTS OF;OFFICERS, CAPITAL & SHAREHOLDINGS, GUARANTEE, COMPLIANCEMEMORANDUM OF ASSOCIATION
    08/04/2010 LATEST SOC 08/04/10 STATEMENT OF CAPITAL;GBP 1
    08/04/2010 MODEL ARTICLES MODEL ARTICLES ADOPTED: PRIVATE LIMITED BY SHARES




    This Report excludes 88(2) Share Allotment documents

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks anon and for bringing this new company to my attention. Please see new posting on Artemis Bellet Ltd

    ReplyDelete
  5. as of today iv,just been sent forms to sign from the london wine shop with a price of £6,000 for a case of chateau latore iv,e only just come on this site an seen the same wine at £4,000 a case for the same wine 2004 8 months later.i think im really being ripped off i agreed over the phone but after seeing this article im not signing anything and the amount of times iv,e been cold called with the london wine shop rep is nothing short of harrasment.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have been offered a case of Chateau Margaux from The London Wine Shop for £5,375.
    The same wine is on wine searcher, for £3,600,
    Question is this a no brainer, or is the quality not the same.
    A novice at this as you can tell.
    Question, is this market a good investment area?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anon. Thanks. Would be helpful to know the vintage. However, if they are the same wine and the provenance is similar then as you suggest it makes no sense to buy from The London Wine Shop. Was it a cold call?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Just had a cold call from BFW trying sell me a case of montrose 2003 for £2600. Rep name was John Reynolds and he wasnt keen to take a not going to commit to anything without checking a few things out first.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I just had a cold call from the same John Reynolds from BFW ltd recommending Chateax Pavie @ £1600. I already told someone else from the same company yesterday [!] that I wasn't interested in investing with them after reading your blog. They are extremely persistent & reluctant to take no for an answer.

    On looking at wine-searcher.com it seems it can be bought for around£1250.

    ReplyDelete
  10. can someone tell me if The London Wine shop is a real company?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. been cold called for 2 weeks at work at home a realpain in the arse ieven said no to this company dont give up

      Delete
  11. I was called by Bordeaux Fine Wines and they told me that this type of investment is the way forward compared to stocks and shares ect.They only charge 10% when you sell the wine that you have bought.
    This type of investment is not covered by the FSA so i did ask how do i know where my money is going because its not like i will be seeing the wine that i have bought.
    B.F.W are sending me a information pack that will explain this but i am not convinced that this is as sweet as they make it sound.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Bordeaux fine wines have offered me two deals in the same number of months and after research on the Internet they were both extremely over priced. They also advertise as being at a London address but after a quick simple question on the area surrounding her office there is no chance this company is based anywhere near stated.

    ReplyDelete
  13. That's right they have a huge office in Croydon but if you ask the broker they will tell you they are based in Portland square London! What other information are they lying about? It makes you wonder

    ReplyDelete
  14. I've been contacted by BFW to buy a case of Chateau Cos d'Estournel 2005 for £2,200. I just looked on www.wine-searcher.com after seeing it mentioned here and found the same for £1550! I was told this is the wine they are drinking at the Olympics, so it'll go up by 3% over the next 4 month, and it a great investment!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Allen. Thanks. This is why wine-searcher is such a useful tool.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Peter. I was also approached by BFW on 24 Aug, firstly Jodie the Thomas Parker offering same wine and vintage for £2,190. RP96! Can this be right and should I refuse offer. Also apparently based in Portmanteau Square, but all brochures have come from Croydon

    ReplyDelete
  17. I have been offered a case of wine from bfw over the last two weeks. And after much research have now realised pricing structures from *brokers* and *merchants* are completly different. So the obvious question is why, after much research and dudilgidence there is some justifiction and reasoning to why there is different prices for thee exact same wines. To the average joe this may not be obvious to understand so exstensive reasearch is recommended.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Agree with the above comment. Providence is so important for wines as an investment - the better the wine's history, the higher the price.
    To answer the "how do I know where my money is going" question - wine is a tangible asset, you get your own account, you can see it anytime.

    ReplyDelete