Upcoming Auctions

[Josh S.]

Anyone have their eyes on the october auctions? There's a bunch of old port there, as well as one particular cellar-stocking opportunity involving twenty-four lesser-house 2000 VP's for ~$33/btl after premium+tax. I'm bidding on a few of the prettiest things in the auctions, but would hate to bid against a fellow port fan when we could just as easily split a lot. At least one lot I've an eye to buy up and drink as a group here in NY.

[Eric Ifune]

I get Zachys and HartDavisHart catalogs. Some good lots, but after the 1977 buying opportunity, I'm not actively looking.

[Eric Menchen]

I appreciate Josh's post, but haven't managed to evaluate the Zachy's lots up for auction. Time is running out ...

[Josh S.]

Scored at good prices:
Cockburn 47, Dow 47, Quinta do Noval 50, Cockburn 63, 2 Dow 70, Taylor 77, Barros Colheita 80, Graham 83, Niepoort 83, Warres 83, Quinta do Noval 85, and..
A magnum of Fonseca 70.
rock.

[Roy Hersh]

Congrats Josh, a nice grab of diverse Ports.

[Luke W]

Where are these auctions held? Are they online?

[Eric Menchen]

... A magnum of Fonseca 70.

That was the thing that interested me the most, so if you want to sell it ...
I didn't follow the Zachy's auction. Guess I wasn't that interested otherwise. I don't see any Port or Madeira in next week's Christies auction.

Congrats Josh, and enjoy!

[Eric Ifune]

These auctions are open to anyone. You have to sign onto the auction houses's websites and register on-line, then you can place an absentee bid on-line. Generally you have to have credit card or bank information to register. Some houses such as Acker will allow you to bid on-line real time during the auction, but I generally use the absentee bid placed beforehand.

[Luke W]

Thanks. I will check em out.

[Josh S.]

Thanks. I will check em out.

Luke, usually the lots are announced ~1 month in advance. I aim for auctions in the early spring and mid fall, when shipping temperatures are ideal, or for auctions where i can drive to pick up the Port.

When i see Port, i look at the low price, then i add in the "Buyers premium" (18-21% !) plus any taxes. That gets me an estimate that I can compare against retail price. I also look at the condition of the bottle.

You need to register in advance for the auction, so if you see something you like, sign up on their website. Some auctions allow absentee bids through the website (or by fax or phone), others allow you to interactively bid online in the lead-up to a hammer (think ebay) and others simply allow you to bid real-time.

After the auction, you need to pay promptly (or face a late fee), and handle shipping. OWCs when available, are offered for an extra shipping cost (nothing ships IN the OWC).

Agreeing to send in one bidder on behalf of the group for the purposes of splitting up the proceeds of a win is generally viewed as anti-competitive aka Collusion and it's illegal. It's also collusion if a seller or auctioneer has people in the auction bidding up the price (and we know that's common practice). I'm not sure where collusion ends and a couple friends buying a bottle together begins, and I don't think any of us are bidding at a scale that anyone cares.

So, that said, I'm pretty sure it's NOT collusion if we simply let each other know we're bidding in an auction. Heck, if I was sitting on the auction floor with one of my TPF/FTLOP friends and they were bidding, I'd surely be thinking "Hey, Luke wants that D80? Sure, why not. I've already got some." Besides, you'd probably just bring it to a tasting anyway

The other thing I don't view as illegal (not sure if it is or not) is buying wine specifically for group use. A group of us in the NY area might decide we wanted to drink some of the wine listed at an auction, and we'd all chip in to be able afford it. Then we'd drink the bottle together.

[Eric Menchen]

Lots of lots in the next Zachy's auction, and for lot 441 I see:

Madeira Malmsey Quinta do Serrado 1830
bottom neck or better, one Christie’s Wine Department label, heavily chipped wax capsules
“Medium-bodied, which is not usually the case; however, it was smooth and texturally sublime. Flavors were straight forward with fruit compote and pecan pie, tasty and with good acidity...91.” RH 10/08.
6 bottles per lot $2400-4200

Who is this RH fellow, and what does he know about Madeira?
I will study further, but am immediately tempted by lots 445-448.

[Roy Hersh]

"Don't believe the hype." P.E.

[Josh S.]

Lots of lots in the next Zachy's auction....
...am immediately tempted by lots 445-448.

Those look pretty good; the younger ones (445 & 448) are probably good buys. Those two old TF's are interesting, but that's a lot of $$ for just one bottle. I couldn't find a catalog (with an index), but a little work with their search reveals the following lots:
443, 444, 445, 446, 447, 448, 565, 657, 658, 691, 888, 915, 916, 944, 945, 972, 1246, 1483, 1484

[Eric Menchen]

I couldn't find a catalog (with an index) ...

Index starts on p. 237 of the printed catalog, which is page 141 of 168 of the Part 2 PDF document. Madeira and Port are on printed page 259, PDF page 163. But you found all the Port lots.

The Nov. 3 Christie's auction in London didn't have anything real exciting for me.

[Eric Menchen]

Zachy's this Friday has some neat things. I was interested in 295, 783, 1047, 1272, 1527, and 1633.

And I won't snarf up your 1991 Burmester Marc Please let me get the 2000 Taylor VVV. (Different auction.)

[Marc J.]

Zachy's this Friday has some neat things. I was interested in 295, 783, 1047, 1272, 1527, and 1633.

And I won't snarf up your 1991 Burmester Marc Please let me get the 2000 Taylor VVV. (Different auction.)

Much appreciated!!! Yeah, I also saw that VVV listing - Good luck!

[Josh S.]

Zachy's this Friday has some neat things. I was interested in 295, 783, 1047, 1272, 1527, and 1633.

And I won't snarf up your 1991 Burmester Marc :-) Please let me get the 2000 Taylor VVV. (Different auction.)

We'd been eying 1633 but i won't bid. The price for those bottles if it hits the low (900) is too high at 4% discount off of retail prices. I've plenty of F70 and F77 and a bit of T70, so mostly was thinking about the T63. Will find it elsewhere.

[Eric Menchen]

We'd been eying 1633 but i won't bid. The price for those bottles if it hits the low (900) is too high at 4% discount off of retail prices. I've plenty of F70 and F77 and a bit of T70, so mostly was thinking about the T63. Will find it elsewhere.

Looking at my spreadsheet again, I see you are correct. I came up with a bid of $600 for that lot, and see that the low estimate is $900, so that probably won't happen. Putting in bids, I realized 1047 is for half bottles, not 750s, so that one is out. Put in bids on the others.

[Jeff G.]

heh so it's you guys i'm bidding against @ hart davis and zachy's

anything with fonseca on it probably has a bid from me somewhere

[Eric Menchen]

Edit: I might have won #783, but I'm not so sure now. I put in a bid of the amount that won, but someone else could have put in the same bid earlier. I checked my Zachy's account and it does not show me winning in the "My Results" section. On the other hand, it shows the date of the auction as "1/1/0001", so maybe the results just aren't in the system yet? Here's the lot:

1/375ml Graham 1983 bottom neck
2/750ml Sandeman Port 1994
1/375ml Graham 1994
1/750ml Burmester 1963 just below top shoulder, no label, typed strip label
1/375ml Warres 1983 bottom neck
12/750ml Cockburn Quinto dos Canais 1992 original wood case
1/750ml Rozes Port 1994
2/750ml Calem 1994
1/750ml Warres 1963 top shoulder, partially missing label, English bottled by Berry Bros & Rudd

So that 12x 1992 Cockburn Quinto dos Canais would represent my first ever full case purchase.

The 6x 1992 Taylor went for $850+21% buyers premium. I really want to get some 1992 Taylor (and 1970 Fonseca), but $171/bottle is more than I am willing to spend. I know it retails for slightly higher, but ...