APW Australia Portfolio Wines

This company cold call potential clients with promises of annual gains on a portfolio of wine of up to 20%.

They base their pitch on the premise that it is only possible to produce a finite amount of fine wine i.e. 15,000 cases may be typical.

The fact that some of this fine wine is consumed ensures that the diminshing balance will increase in value ( true for some world renowned vintages - Grand Crus etc).

Does any one have experience of dealing with this company and if so what is your opinion?

A lot of people in this country pooh-pooh Australian table wines. This is a
pity, as many fine Australian wines appeal not only to the Australian palette,
but also to the cognoscenti of Great Britain.

"Black Stump Bordeaux" is rightly praised as a peppermint flavoured
Burgundy, whilst a good "Sydney Syrup" can rank with any of the world's
best sugary wines.

"Chateau Bleu", too, has won many prizes; not least for its taste, and
its lingering afterburn.

"Old Smokey, 1968" has been compared favourably to a Welsh claret,
whilst the Australian wino society thouroughly recommends a 1970 "Coq du
Rod Laver", which, believe me, has a kick on it like a mule: 8 bottles
of this, and you're really finished -- at the opening of the Sydney
Bridge Club, they were fishing them out of the main sewers every half an
hour.

Of the sparkling wines, the most famous is "Perth Pink". This is a
bottle with a message in, and the message is BEWARE!. This is not a
wine for drinking -- this is a wine for laying down and avoiding.

Another good fighting wine is "Melbourne Old-and-Yellow", which is
particularly heavy, and should be used only for hand-to-hand combat.

Quite the reverse is true of "Chateau Chunder", which is an Appelachian
controle, specially grown for those keen on regurgitation -- a fine wine
which really opens up the sluices at both ends.

Real emetic fans will also go for a "Hobart Muddy", and a prize winning
"Cuiver Reserve Chateau Bottled Nuit San Wogga Wogga", which has a
bouquet like an aborigine's armpit.

~ Monty Python

I am not disputing the quality of Aussie wines but whether or not this company are dealing in products in which it is possible to grow the initial investment, or are operating a 'boiler type scam.'

Seriously, in cases such as this you have to assume scam unless proven innocent beyond all doubt. If it is a great money maker, why are they cold calling to get money from private investors? There are better ways to raise larger amounts of capital if you have a good business plan.

What are the current thoughts on the APW outfit?

Suerly we must all have learned from the recent past.

Pretty much the whole of the investment community aren't to be trusted, and it doesn't matter if they're a billion £ bank or a 1 man band. They are (legal) crooks, (legal) shysters and will do anything to use our money to pay themselves first and if there's anything left over pay you the client.

Somebody calling suggesting that you can make around 20% a year on fine wine when global interest rates are around 1% - Yes, that sounds likely, plus of course they're cold calling - Mmmm, stangers calling me offering me extremly attractive rewards.......

However, the OP is doing the best thing possible, researching people who are after his money. Well done there warre.

The way forward for anyone from no on is to DON'T TRUST ANY FINANCIAL FIRM unless you have really done some hardcore research into who they are and what they're selling. Then when that's done do some more reseearch into what you're buying because there's a very good chance that they're (legally) setting you up.

A classic case in point is Standard Life's recent Cash Fund debacle. All the promo material was really heavy on the word 'cash', because that's what it said on the tin. But oh no, they had to try and be clever, taking the **** out of their clients so not all the money was invested into cash, part of it went to buying mortgage backed bonds!

The nerve of these people is unbelievable, especially as I would assume the majority of their clients were in the fund for safety plus the majority of them trusted the Standard Life name. And believe me this is not an isolated event, the Threadneedle Cash fund also did something similar.

So if we can't trust these big firms who can we trust?

Why not check out who the registered owners are? I have heard a RUMOUR that the owner /s has been involved in previous scams.

Whatever you do do get involved with them, google them and you will find out more. I am trying to help some unhappy investors who got totally ripped off by them.

Wine is not a good long term investment at the moment, and has not been for some time, not improving either.

Emm

warregui said:

This company cold call potential clients with promises of annual gains on a portfolio of wine of up to 20%.

They base their pitch on the premise that it is only possible to produce a finite amount of fine wine i.e. 15,000 cases may be typical.

The fact that some of this fine wine is consumed ensures that the diminshing balance will increase in value ( true for some world renowned vintages - Grand Crus etc).

Does any one have experience of dealing with this company and if so what is your opinion?

Click to expand...

same answer as below:

Whatever you do do get involved with them, google them and you will find out more. I am trying to help some unhappy investors who got totally ripped off by them.

Wine is not a good long term investment at the moment, and has not been for some time, not improving either.

Emm

warregui said:

This company cold call potential clients with promises of annual gains on a portfolio of wine of up to 20%.

They base their pitch on the premise that it is only possible to produce a finite amount of fine wine i.e. 15,000 cases may be typical.

The fact that some of this fine wine is consumed ensures that the diminshing balance will increase in value ( true for some world renowned vintages - Grand Crus etc).

Does any one have experience of dealing with this company and if so what is your opinion?

Click to expand...

http://boards.fool.co.uk/Message.asp?mid=9931017&sort=postdate

If they cold called you then you can be sure its a scam, even without the above information. Report it to the FSA.

emm said:

Wine is not a good long term investment at the moment, and has not been for some time, not improving either.

Click to expand...

really ?
I challenge both statements


herewith attached the Liv-Ex 100 chart which tracks the index of top Bordeaux sold at auction
http://www.liv-ex.com

emm said:

Whatever you do do get involved with them, google them and you will find out more. I am trying to help some unhappy investors who got totally ripped off by them.

Wine is not a good long term investment at the moment, and has not been for some time, not improving either.

Emm

Click to expand...

i have bought a lot of wine from apw nearly five years ago now i want to sell my contact has left the company and they have gone quiet when they were selling i had problems trying to get rid of them it looks like i have once again been robbed as i will have to pay storage fees once the five years have elapsed. any one else with same experience
nev [email protected]

errorman said:

i have bought a lot of wine from apw nearly five years ago now i want to sell my contact has left the company and they have gone quiet when they were selling i had problems trying to get rid of them it looks like i have once again been robbed as i will have to pay storage fees once the five years have elapsed. any one else with same experience
nev [email protected]

Click to expand...

Nev,

To be honest this may well be a complete scam. I have found a number of links between people involved with APW and previous drinks related frauds. There's no way you should part with more money for storage or anything else. It seems this sort of scam has been going since the late 90s with some people involved doing a few years in prison from 2001. If you read these links you'll see the similarities between them all.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...pound2m-millennium-champagne-scam-688704.html

http://whiskyscam.co.uk/page20.html

hallo stewart and judy i am dissappointed to hear you have been ripped off by apw you are not the only one because it is not until you want your wines sold you realise there is a serious problem with the honourability of this company it cannot be legal to charge you another 25%commission on the wines you own. this company needs investigating . yes i am mad because i am about to loose a lot of hard earned money by the way do you now deal with cellar link the person who sold me the wines is no longer available. i did not have your email so replied through trade to win. any more apw clients out there that have been ripped off reply for australian clients nev

Program on BBC1 right now about wine fraud in the UK

Same problem as errorman.Bought a lot of wine over several years from APW.No sign of it being sold.How many of us are there in this position?

What are the lastest APW outfit?

gok1 said:

What are the current thoughts on the APW outfit?

Click to expand...

not good as i am still waiting apw to sell some of my wines. i suspect if the pressure is on to sell by the clients they probably will dissappear from the face of the earth .a couple in australia have been robbed by this company. i suspect a lot more clients will suffer when they come to sell. has any clients had their wines sold i would be interested to know

Hello,

In response to the email sent to you by cellar link, it does seem they are trying to resolve issues? I agree that its all too slow, and as a result of being taken over from APW your almost stuck in a contract with them. At least now you have a get out clause.
I think the english government would charge to release wine, but only duty and vat, and possibly a handling fee from the warehouse.

From your first reply, if wine was sold in december, that is when I bought my wine. I also know another wine seller/retailer bought substantial amounts from them to resell in november and decemeber.

Depending on what you have stored with them, as I mentioned previously, I would try and sell asap or withdraw your holdings with them somehow. as much of the stock they hold is approaching the end of its life, especially for buyers who would want large quantities.

Good luck!

The only way to exit is to stop paying the fees and force them to execute clause 12.2 of their t&c:

http://www.cellarlink.com.au/comersus/store/pdf/Terms_and_Conditions.pdf

Anyone fight them will need a certified copy of the t&c, before they change it.

All the best..