Oenophiles likely know: We are in the midst of one of California's best vintages of the decade, the 2007 Napa cabernets. And we are weeks away from the release of the 2009 Bordeaux, a vintage that, wine critics contend, benefited from an exquisite growing season and could surpass 2005, regarded as one of the best of the past 100 years. Some people, no doubt, are eager to get their lips on these fine elixirs—assuming they are willing to pay, in many instances, more than $500 a bottle. Others are thinking not with their palate but their wallet. They see a "liquid" asset (sorry) that improves with age.