Letters: Wine’s for drinking, not collecting

Re “How the other half invests,” Business, Dec. 8

This article on wine collectors reaping windfalls repeats a typical theme of rising markets — making money faster — but it performs a disservice as well.

As in the case of 1957 Chevrolets now bringing six-digit prices on the auction block, the downside of an influx of big money into a field of collecting is that what was a pleasant hobby for many becomes a speculative battleground for the wealthy few. The whiff of high prices at auction has driven up the retail price of very ordinary wines and pushed those bottles into climate-controlled cases.

Wine is for the table, to be consumed and enjoyed; it’s not an ego-builder.

Ordinary consumers, wine merchants whose offerings have become more expensive (driving away the daily user) and even the wineries lose.

After all, do those wealthy collectors share their inflated auction earnings with the winemaker whose efforts went into the bottle?

Joe Strapac

Bellflower

As one of the 99%, I found your Sunday issue to be most uninteresting, with $1,000 shoes advertised and the Business section front page carrying an article about how the “other half” invests in wine.

The “other half” of who — your readership? Doubtful.

With the labor force of the most frequented establishments — big-box stores and fast-food chains — requiring government assistance for housing and food needs, unemployment still at 7% and talk of reducing Social Security, Medicare, unemployment benefits and food-stamp programs, just what should a concerned member of the 99% do?

Marcy Bregman

Agoura Hills

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