Singapore and Hong Kong are strong markets for fine-wine investment but China and other developing countries are playing a bigger role, said Forti.

He said the short-term prospects of investing in fine wines were very promising, mainly driven by an outstanding 2009 vintage - especially from France's Bordeaux region - as well as high Asian demand and a weaker euro.

"It is a live investment growing much faster in global value," he said.

Chad Merchant, executive director of wine investment provider Premium Liquid Assets, said that among alternative asset-class investment options, "only wine offers such a quantifiable track record".

"The well-established secondary market for top wines, primarily from Bordeaux, ensures that investors can know how their assets are performing on a spot-check basis," he said.

Picking the right wine Click on thumbnail to view

"The transparency of the market and the relative ease of liquidation places fine wine in a class of its own when it comes to alternative investments." Merchant cited the industry's "Liv-ex 100" index which tracks the 100 most traded wines in the world.

"In the past five years, which includes the worst global recession since the 1920s, this index has gained over 166 per cent in value," he said.

"Over the past year, slow recovery from the worldwide financial crisis, coupled with the most extraordinary harvest in Bordeaux in over 60 years, has driven some fine wine prices to record highs," he added.

According to Assetton estimates, premium wines like the Chateau Angelus see good appreciation, with the 2005 vintage first released at 155 euros per bottle now commanding an average price of 288 euros.

And with a weak euro, Nainan's customers are asking for rarer vintages.

"Fine wine has been around for hundreds of years. It's very steady. In a crisis everything gets affected... but wine is the last one to be affected because it has little correlation to the market as a whole, and it is the first to recover," he said.

"You don't buy on credit - people pay cash. There's no such thing as half way through - you can't service loans."

Wine consultant Malcolm Tham believes it is the sentimental value associated with wine, not just the transactional worth, which ensures it remains less volatile than the stock market.

"It's not just for the money that you hold wines," he said. "If you have your hands on the right type of wine then you're safe, definitely."