I watched the Zachy's auction today and yesterday and prices were all over the place. Many lots sold for less than low estimate and low estimate. This auction was ful of rare old Madeira's. It was an amazing line up with 2 lots (6 bottles total) of the famous 1927 Quinta do Serrado Bual. A few wines went for a surprisingly large amount of money - 8 bottles of 1862 d'Oliveira's Sercial (estimate 2800-4500) went for $4200 - that's $5040 with the commision.
Port prices seemed to be holding OK. However some younger great Ports seemed to slip a little. 1994 Fonseca and Taylor cases went for $1320 - below low estimate. That seems like a bit of a drop from a few months ago. Given the economic conditions, that's not a surprise.
I finally won some Madeira at Auction. I missed out on a bottle of the H&H Grand Old Bual, but it went for more than I could afford.... but still a reasonable price ($840). Now I'll have to seriously cut back on any more wine purchases before my wife freaks out!
I had a bid in ($2000) on 10 bottles of 1905 d'Oliveira's Verdelho, but luckily cancelled before the auction. I would have likely won that lot and then my wife really would have let me have it!
-Dave-
I did pretty well. Given that Madeira prices were firm at the HDH auction last week and there were several lots I really wanted, I was sorta aggressive with bids. Not outrageous, but mid to high estimates. Given retail prices at the moment, I think I did really well. A few more bottles to bring to Seattle in January.
Good to hear! Yes, I was also semi-agressive with my offers - mid to low estimates. I also did well with respect to retail pricing. I'm sure I'll be bringing at least one bottle of Madeira to Seattle.
-Dave-
I was watching the Zachy's auction it seemed that the prices fetched were decent. Unlike a few months back when prices were just stupid and it was cheaper to buy retail than auction. I also looked at the Morrell upcoming auction but they don't seem to have much and on the ports they do have they have not adjusted their estimates so it looks like they have a huge auction but in reality they will only get the reserve on all their port lots. Either way it would still be cheaper to find a retailer to that has it rather than pay the 18% buyers prem.
I think I'm going to wait until after the new year to bid on a few things. Then the lots will be passed on and the prices might go down a bit.
I agree that prices weren't stupid. There were a fair number of passed lots, but nothing like what happened at Christie's (I think they were only 35% sold or something like that). Still I did see a few ridiculous prices:
12 bottles 1968 d'Oliveira's Bual - $2400
Why would you pay that much when you can get it direct from the Rare Wine Company for $1500?
I have no idea why auction houses would not lower estimates in this environment... but they know the business better than I do.
-Dave-
