Driven to drink no bad thing, for wine investors(2)

"Spreads vary between merchants and can be quite large. You don't want to have to liquidate your portfolio if you get a redemption request, because you may not get the best prices for the wines," said Tamisier of Elite Advisers.

To contain this problem, he said the fund holds at least 10 percent of its assets in cash, and ensures that no client accounts for more than 10 percent of the fund.

Even so, if a rush of investors wanted quick access to their cash, they might have to sell at a discount to net asset value.

If that is too unpalatable a thought, one way out is to take physical possession of their share of the fund.

In that case, if they want liquidity, they will need a corkscrew.

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