Downing the lot must have seemed like the way to go at the time. But when Lehman Brothers collapsed last year, investors rushed to sell their quality plonk instead. As a result, the benchmark Liv-Ex 100 Fine Wine index tumbled by a fifth in just two months. Since then, however, it has been an explosive bouquet of spice, cherry and pepper all the way, with prices surging again. August's jump of 5 per cent was the biggest since mid-2007. The index is now only 15 per cent off its peak last summer and certain Lafite Rothschild vintages are at all-time highs.

What is going on? After all, the price of other luxuries such as paintings are still in freefall. The blurb from one wine investment fund argues that the fine wine market benefits from inelastic supply. That is, irrespective of the price it fetches, once a particular vintage is made no more can be produced. Moreover, the number of available bottles falls every time a cork is popped.

But the fact that art masterpieces are also non-fungible does not stop their prices from falling. Neither does diminishing supply, as any landowner these days will tell you. What is more, these characteristics are well known and should be reflected in prices at auction. Therefore something else must be pushing prices higher.