Meanwhile there is still a glut of much more ordinary wine, particularly in Europe, so that the world is still producing far more wine than it consumes. Many who have earned a fortune in a quite different field where every penny was presumably counted seem happy to fritter away their fortune on a vanity project that gives them some sort of bibulous connection to the earth, or least a wine label with their name on it. Owning a vineyard or winery has become almost a lifestyle statement. It is hardly surprising then that more and more people, often with no background whatsoever in the wine business, want to produce wine. At thousands of dollars a bottle rather than a case nowadays, they can now be regarded as part of the luxury goods market, with the additional pressure, hardly a factor in the handbag business, of the investment funds that have been established to benefit from their status as a trading commodity. New interest from Asia, Russia and, increasingly, Latin America has put extraordinary pressure on prices of the traditional trophy wines, the Bordeaux first growths and most sought-after Grand Cru burgundies. All over the world now, a wine collection is regarded as a desirable, even expected, accoutrement to financial success, just like membership of the right golf club or investment in significant real estate. Since then, the world of wine has increasingly established itself as an important generator and, perhaps even more importantly, indicator of wealth. It has been six years since we launched the last edition, in the eerie atmosphere that prevailed on Septemwhen wine seemed so desperately irrelevant and frivolous.
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