After two years of great plonk, wine investors are starting to detox. Following almost uninterrupted price growth since December 2008, fine wine prices finally began to soften during July, according to Wine Asset Managers, a specialist manager of funds invested in the fine wine market.

The Fine Wine Fund, run by Wine Asset Managers, fell by 1% during July, after 26% growth year to date. In July, the Liv-ex Fine Wine Investables index, which tracks the price of notable Bordeaux reds from 24 chateaux, fell marginally after 12 consecutive monthly increases index gives an annual return of 28%.