Wine as an investment?

I have been on the wait list for Cayuse for almost 5 years. They are the best of the best in WA State wines. Last year I got an invite to a new "sister" winery named "Horsepower". Same owners basically, (Christoph Barron) and a new nearby vineyard still in the rocks area of Milton Freewater. After reading about what they were trying to do I was on the list immediately. Got my first allocation last year (2011) and it got very good reviews. Next allocation was for 2012 which was a picture perfect vintage in WA State. Reviews were even better.

I just watched an online auction of my 2012 allocation go for 2X what I paid for my own 3 pack of wines. Needless to say I am wondering if I should cash in on the buying frenzy or just "forgitaboudit" as I purchased it to drink really not sell.

Either way its fun to see something you bought with the intention of drinking someday actually going up in value instead of something else.

Let's say you can sell it for $X/bottle. Can you buy a different bottle of wine for less than $X that you would enjoy more?

Probably. Another highly rated winery for their Syrah's is Reynvaan. I have been on their list for 3 years now. The owner was tutored by Christoph Barron for a few years. Their wines receive scores as high or higher than Cayuse and Horsepower. Have not seen any Reynvaan being sold at auction though. They are very hard to find outside of the list as well. I know some people will buy their full case allocation of a highly coveted wine when they only want to drink/hold 2-3 bottles. Then they will sell the remaining bottles at auction and basically pay for the wine they keep by doing this. Tempting!

I'd drink it and invest in something else!

You get to do both if you pick the right wines though. Gotta keep the portfolio diversified LOL