Looking to invest? Do your research first

Buying wine as an investment is a practice many wine lovers abhor. They believe great wine is to be enjoyed and treasured, not traded as a commodity - like gold, silver and shares.
Their chief objection, however, is financial. Investment buying pushes up the prices of the world's most collectible wines to levels most wine lovers cannot afford.
Nevertheless, the practice is widespread, and is here to stay.
There will always be people who will seize any opportunity to make a profit. And profits are there to be made for those who do their research.
The three essentials to intelligent buying are:
The wines must have a reputation.
They must be quality wines with proven ability to age for long periods.
The vintage must be a good one.
Basically, this means red wine, although the top sweet white wines - from sauternes and barsac in France, and from Germany - are also collectible. So too are vintage ports from Portugal.
The red wines which best meet the criteria, and which are far and away the most in demand, are the top wines from Bordeaux - like chateaux Lafite, Latour, Mouton Rothschild, Haut Brion, Margaux, Ausone, Cheval Blanc, Petrus, Le Pen, Pichon Longueville Baron, Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, Palmer, and many others.
For the average person, the entry into the Bordeaux market by the Chinese, in a very big way, has pushed up the prices of many of these wines to astronomical levels. But fortunately there are dozens of other Bordeaux chateaux in demand.
The best way to get an understanding of what prices the top wines are fetching, and the trends of those prices over preceding vintages, is to buy a copy of the British wine magazine Decanter, arguably the world's best wine publication. Each month it gives a list of what these wines are fetching.
For wines that don't make the list, other research is required. Books on Bordeaux by authoritative writers such as Hugh Johnson, Oz Clarke, Robert Parker and others are best guides.
There is also a market for the best wines from Burgundy and the Rhone, although these are not as much in demand as Bordeaux.
From Italy the best bets are the long-lived wines like Barolo and Brunello de Montalcino. The best Californian cabernet sauvignons also trade well, but finding a reliable and reputable wine merchant is essential.
Closer to home Penfolds Grange rules the roost, but there are many other Australian reds with proven records. There is a website which gives details. New Zealand wines can be problematical. It is such a young wine country that many of the most popular wines have not had sufficient time to prove themselves over the long haul.
The best and safest bets among the Bordeaux-style reds are Tom (from Montana), Coleraine from Te Mata, Villa Maria Reserve, and Stonyridge Larose. The last-named is Waiheke Island wine and the others are all from Hawke's Bay.
Pinot noir and syrah are very popular at present, but few - especially syrahs - have had enough time to guarantee longevity. Among the pinots I'd take a punt on are the top labels from Felton Road, Quartz Reef, Peregine and Ata Rangi. My syrah pick would be from Trinity Hills and Craggy Range.