Fall wine auction season has begun (or, rather, is about to begin) and investors are curious to see what will happen. Will the subprime loan mess have any effect on the bidding? Will fraudulent wines be a concern to anyone? Last March, auction powerhouses Christie's in London and Scardale, NY-based Zachy's were subpoenaed in an investigation. It appears that these aren't strong concerns at the moment.

From Bloomberg.com:

"Fine-wine prices are not correlated with financial markets,'' Mahesh Kumar, author of "Wine Investment for Portfolio Diversification,'' explained in an e-mail.

As London's Liv-Ex August market report points out, ``prices are most closely correlated with the prosperity of the world's wealthiest wine lovers.'' The report predicts some reappraisal of risk, perhaps even selloffs, but not ``a rout.'' Kumar sees the prospect of a small price reduction only if global financial markets become even more volatile. Why? There is a finite supply of fine wine, while global demand is still increasing.

For a detailed list of what will be available, visit Wine Spectator online.