The future leaves room to whine

If you're looking for a sign of consumer confidence at the luxury end of the market, take a look at sales of wine futures.

Jack Farrell Jr., owner of Haskell's Fine Wine and Spirits in Naples, is one of a handful of wine dealers in Florida who sells wine futures, which are bets on fine French wine after it has been barreled but before it's bottled.

Judging by the weak demand for wine futures by Florida oenophiles, the confidence in the economic recovery hasn't reached the upper echelons of society yet. Haskell says fewer wine enthusiasts on the Gulf Coast are buying these exotic securities. “I don't see that happening for a while,” he says.

Most of Farrell's wine-future business comes from Asian buyers. At a gathering of Florida wine retailers recently, Farrell says the mood was generally downcast. “The same is true for all of South Florida,” he says.