A new investment firm claims to be the first to offer loans using top Bordeaux and Burgundy wines alone as collateral.

Asset management group Loan Against will offer cash loans of between £100,000 and £10 million for the purchase of top wines, providing up to 70 per cent of the value of the purchase, Decanter reports.

Wines that can be financed in this way include the Bordeaux first Growths, such as Chateau Lafite Rothschild and Chateau Margaux, super seconds, Sauternes such as Chateau d'Yquem and the likes of Domaine de la Romanee-Conti from Burgundy.

Managing director James Constantinou said this is the first "non-status" investment loan which, it is hoped, will provide a boost for the wine industry.

"We create instant liquidity for UK and offshore-based investors who are looking to acquire fine wine at auction or through private sale," he told the publication.

Wine prices have been largely unaffected by the global economic downturn, with the values of 2009 and 2010 Bordeaux reaching record highs.