Four UK-based wine investment firms have had complaints against their online marketing upheld by the national advertising watchdog.
In a series of rulings today (13 November) the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) deemed the investor groups' ads to be "misleading" for not clarifying "that wine investment was unregulated".
The ASA probed four social media adverts from Vintage Associates Fine Wine Merchants, Vinverum, and Cult & Boutique, as well as two Google ads for Cult Wines.
According to the ASA, a Facebook ad for Cult Wines, for instance, stated: "Start a fine wine collection – Cult Wine investment. Human expertise, data-driven tech and a love for fine wine. Diversify your portfolio. Your wine investment guide. Learn how the wine market has outperformed the FTSE 100."
Another from Cult & Boutique included a caption that said: "As an investment, fine wine has delivered an annualized return of 13.6% over the last 15 years."
All six ads assessed by the ASA were said to have violated the CAP code, which states that any investment-related marketing must clarify that investment value can fluctuate "and that past performance or experience did not necessarily give a guide for the future".
As wine investment is unregulated and does not receive protections from the UK's Financial Services Compensation Scheme or the Financial Ombudsman Service, all companies must provide information that demonstrates this clearly to consumers, according to the ASA.
Any investment claims must also be fully substantiated with "documentary evidence", it said.
The investigation forms part of a wider assessment being led by the ASA of unregulated investments in the UK.
In a statement to Just Drinks, Cult & Boutique said it "accepts" the latest decision and was "committed to ensuring that our advertisements meet the highest standards of transparency and clarity".
It has "made immediate changes" to its Facebook ad following the result of the ASA's probe. "We have always aimed to provide potential clients with comprehensive information about both the opportunities and risks associated with wine investment, including the fact that it is an unregulated market.
"Although this information has been readily available on our website and in our literature, we understand the importance of making these details more prominent in our advertising."
The group added: "Going forward, we will ensure that all advertising explicitly states that the value of wine can fluctuate and that past performance does not guarantee future outcomes.
"Additionally, we are committed to substantiating all performance-related claims with robust evidence in compliance with the CAP code."
Vintage Associates also told Just Drinks: "The information we put out was never false, it was factual information but naively excluded the disclaimers above.
"We stopped all ads once this was brought to our attention and are in the process of updating all of our material to reflect the guidance from ASA".
Responding to the decision, Cult Wines also said it would "use this ruling to improve clarity in our advertising in the future and ensure that all critical information is presented as accessible as possible for current and prospective investors.
"We apologise for any confusion this may have caused and will work closely with the ASA to address their recommendations in our future advertising.”
Just Drinks has also asked Vinverum for comment.
