Investors in fine wine had a further reason to pop the cork in February, latest figures show.

Investors in fine wines made money for the third month in a row last month, figures for February’s auction results show. Prices sustained progress after the end of the Chinese New Year - an important month for sales.

According to figures from the Wine Investment Fund, a UK-based portfolio that only holds vintages from the Bordeaux region of France, the Liv-ex 100 benchmark of auction results rose 1.2 points.

Currency movements had a positive effect, because the fall in sterling against the euro, dollar, renminbi and yen boosted demand for wine priced in the UK currency. Bordeaux-based investors are seeking to buy back stock from the UK, the fund said.

The market for fine wine, like that for goods such as luxury properties, fine art, classic cars and jewels, has seen its fortunes prosper when more mainstream markets such as equities have weakened, sometimes because collectibles are seen as safe havens. The performance of these markets is also a reflection of how confident, or risk-averse, wealthy individuals are. Debate continues around whether such assets give enduring diversification to a portfolio and they tend to be less liquid than listed equities, bonds and cash.

Among other details in the report from the fund, it said that auction house Sotheby’s reported 2015 wine sales to buyers in the Americas rose to 33 per cent from 26 per cent in 2014. This result, the fund said, supports its contention that the US market is rebounding from its long post-financial crisis weakness. There is strong evidence that, despite its difficulties, Asia remains a key market, and that demand is stabilising. 

Asian buyers bought 52 per cent of wine lots sold globally in 2015, a fall of 3 percentage points from the level seen in 2014. Separately, luxury drinks group LVMH reported a rebound in revenue from China in the second half of 2015 and Vinexpo predicted that China would see the second-fastest growth in wine consumption between 2015 and 2019, behind only Russia, the report said.

“The next six months will be very interesting for the fine wine market. April and May will see the tastings and releases of the 2015 Bordeaux en primeurs. For the first time since 2010 this vintage appears to be a very good vintage, but, as ever, the success of the ‘campaign’, and hence the extent of any benefit to the wider market, will depend on a sensibly priced campaign. The en primeurs will be followed by the UK’s EU referendum in June. Although this is unlikely to impact directly on fine wine prices, any accompanying exchange rate movements in the run-up and afterwards could be significant,” said Andrew della Casa, founding director, The Wine Investment Fund. (The term “en primeur" relates to buying wine early while it is still in the barrel.)