INVESTORS seeking a safe haven for their assets during the financial meltdown should consider a punt on plonk, says chief Penfolds winemaker Peter Gago.

"It's a bit like gold -- in times of adversity, what do people trust? In vino veritas -- wine is truth," he said.

"I've got money in credit unions, money in banks, in superannuation, and I have money in wine. Which is the safest bet at the moment? Probably the wine."

Mr Gago was speaking after the Melbourne launch of the sixth edition of The Rewards of Patience -- a guide to every vintage of Penfolds top-quality wines back to the first Grange produced in 1951. The book is part of an extensive marketing effort designed to maximise the value of Penfolds wine in the secondary market and thereby bolster the brand's cachet.

Andrew Caillard, a director at Langton's wine auctioneers and author of the 358-page Penfolds guidebook, said there was no reduction in demand for fine wines during the recession of the early 1990s.

"Prices do oscillate, but the volatility isn't nearly as much as you'd find in the stock market, because really good quality wine is always in limited supply, and there's always enough people with an interest in it to maintain the values," he said.

"People who are affected by all this could decide to convert their fine wine holdings into cash, but if you're talking about the auction market, it only takes two people to maintain a price so it's not really like the financial markets."

However, the price of wines outside the ultra-premium category exemplified by Grange and Henschke Hill of Grace could suffer more, Mr Caillard said.

"Grange always seems to have weathered any economic storm, which seems to come down to a limited supply and large demand. But while people talk about wines as an investment, in the end most people look at them as a drink."