Bruce Anderson

A wine company after Roger Scruton’s heart

[Getty Images]

‘Golden’ is often used to describe the hue of some wines in the glass. But there is another resemblance. Gold is a beautiful metal as well as a store of value. Wine, covetable for its taste, can also be a store of value, at least for many years. So it inevitably attracts the attention of investors, the best of whom want to deploy expertise partly in order to finance their drinking.

The late Roger Scruton, no less, once wrote a piece explaining how it was possible to drink Château Lafite free. You estimate your future needs and then buy twice the quantity. Within a few years, you should be able to sell half your bottles for the cost of the whole. I never asked him whether he had tried this out. But there is a firm based in London which is run on Scrutonian lines.

A chap called Philip Gearing had a successful career in the City. But wine was his true vocation. During every holiday, he used to take his family to France: tasting, buying – and dreaming. His son Tom remembers visiting Musigny when he was only 11. His father was sampling their rare and precious white. The fellow supervising the barrels offered Tom a tiny amount in the bottom of a glass. The boy looked at Dad, who said, ‘OK. Try it. But don’t tell your mother.’ Tom is not sure whether he became hooked on wine at that moment, but if not, it was soon thereafter.

In the late 1990s, turning 40, Phil decided that he would City no more and devote himself to wine. At school and university, Tom took every chance to broaden his vinous knowledge and experience. In 2007, father and son joined forces to form Cult Wine Investment. They now operate all over the world, have around £265 million of wine under management, and cater for a range of clients.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in