DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN ANCHOR: The wine industry is tasting an economic boom. Recently, a six liter bottle of cabernet sauvignon from the Screaming Eagle estate sold for half-a-million dollars at a charity auction. According to the Wine Society, Americans are buying more luxury wines than ever before. Our Valerie Morris takes a look at how to reap the benefits of investing in the grape market.</s>VALERIE MORRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fifteen years ago, when he was a professional football player, Bill Ard bought expensive restaurant wine to impress his dates. What started on a whim has become a passion; his cellar now contains 800 bottles. The Wine Society says, 70 percent of Americans drink their wine within three days of buying it. But Ard, who rarely spends more than $30 on a bottle, says a buy-and-hold strategy can pay off.</s>BILL ARD, WINE COLLECTOR: I'm told this bottle is over $150 to $200 a bottle right now.</s>MORRIS: Americans are drinking more wine, and their appetite for luxury wines is growing the fastest. Industry analysts estimate the market for wines costing more than $25 a bottle grew 30 percent last year. Wine merchants say, people have more money to spend and they understand wine better than they used to.</s>DAN O'NEILL, GARDEN STATE WINE CLUB: It's a treat for them; they're going to have great bottles to, you know, consume in the future, and they can buy them at the present price for much less than they will in the future. So they save money.</s>MORRIS: As with any investment, the key to wine buying is research, reading wine publications, finding good vineyards, and following the critics' reviews of vintages. But collectors say, the best hedge is to buy what you like.</s>RICHARD SASSO, WINE COLLECTOR: I tried to concentrate on those wines that were quality wines, that would appreciate in both terms of dollars but also, more importantly, in terms of taste.</s>MORRIS: That's "Your Money." Valerie Morris, CNN Financial News, New York.
Your Money: Reaping the Benefits of the Grape Market