So how can people know that they are making a good investment? Essentially, the best way to invest is in the En Primeur market, where wines are bought before they are bottled, thereby ensuring (usually) the best price.

"Bordeaux is by far the biggest futures market in wine, " said Stuart Smith of The Corkscrew wine shop on Chatham Street. "There is a market for Burgundy, but these are usually snapped up by collectors rather than investors."

Given that wine is released in tranches, the first release is almost always the cheapest.

The quick way to capitalise on this cheaper price is to buy and flip your investment, but given that the common wisdom is not to drink Bordeaux for 10 years (which is when the real demand starts), it is often better to sit it out for the longer term. Still, it is important to know what to do once you have bought your case or cases.

"Provenance is everything, " said Smith. "There is no point in buying something and keeping it in your garage. To ensure good provenance, you should buy and keep the wine under bond in a bonded warehouse, for two reasons. Number one, future buyers will know where it has been stored, and number two, if it is bonded, you will only have to pay VAT on its purchase price, rather than on its value when it comes to sale."

Bonding costs, on average, 10 per case.

But the fun part is deciding what to buy, and in Bordeaux that essentially means buying a wine under the 1855 classification (with the exception of St Emilion, which was classified later). There are five Premier Cru wines (Chateau Latour, Chateau Lafite-Rothschild and Chateau Mouton Rothschild are Paulliac, Chateau Margaux and Chateau Haut-Brion, which is a Graves wine). These will all cost spectacular money for a case (for example, 2000 Premier Cru sold for about 5,500), but they will almost guarantee good returns, if simply for their rarity value.

Deuxieme Cru (Super Seconds), of which there are 12, are a step below, and then you have Troisiemes Crus (14), Quatriemes Crus (11) and Cinquiemes Crus (17), although real investors might stay above the fifth level, with a few exceptions (for example, Lynch Bages).

The trouble is that 2005, which is about to be unleashed onto the market, is expected to be the most expensive year ever for Bordeaux, so you have to decide whether you want to take a punt on some really serious wine (and run the risk of it underperforming, as was the case for 2000), or opt for a cheaper vintage.

Irish art is an investment which is becoming very popular among the cogniscenti and the dilettantes alike, and with good cause. The Irish art market is particularly hot at the moment, and recent auction results (the truest test of a market) show that the appetite for Irish art is not being diminished with time.

For example, an "Important Irish Art" auction held by Whytes on April 25 threw up some excellent results, including a painting entitled Pink and Blue, Ardfert, County Kerry by John Doherty, which was guided at between 15,000 and 20,000, but which sold for 44,000. Similarly, a new world record of 50,000 was set for a Donald Teskey, for a painting guiding at between 25,000 and 35,000.

Another artist experiencing some spectacular prices is Louis LeBrocquy, now in his 90th year, who saw a collection of lithographic brush drawings from The Tain sell for 120,000 - well in excess of their guide price.

"There is currently a shortage of pieces out there, and this is creating a demand."

said Ian Whyte. "People who have art aren't selling, and people who want it are prepared to pay the price for a good piece."

If art and wine are not really your thing, you could even think of investing in Ireland's future - including the option of investing in our forests. To date there have been 12 Forestry Investment Plans, all of which were oversubscribed, and each offered a 10 year lump sum investment plan which facilitated the buying of bare land for forestry.

The advantages, outside of the ecological wellbeing of the nation, were that returns on the investment were tax free.

Emphasis has now switched to Forestry Growth Plans, which will concentrate on the purchase of semimature forests. Again, this is a tax free lump sum investment (miniumum 750), which projects a compund return rate of 8.5% per annum, with the main difference between the FIP and the new plan being that the Forestry Growth Plan is a 12 year investment. The aim of the Forestry Growth Plan will be to raise 2.5m to purchase these semi-mature woodlands. The forests are managed on behalf of the Company by IFS Asset Managers Ltd.

For information on how to invest in the Forestry Growth plan, visit www. irishforestry. ie