For The Love Of Port

Was just checking out Acker's June 18th auction. There are three Port lots---one 24 bottles (all Taylor 92 & 03), the other two 40+ bottles each (mixed lots).

These seem like very large lots to me. Does anyone here buy such lots? Is this effective strategy for the seller?---I would think smaller lots would attract more buyers.

John M. wrote:Was just checking out Acker's June 18th auction. There are three Port lots---one 24 bottles (all Taylor 92 & 03), the other two 40+ bottles each (mixed lots).

These seem like very large lots to me. Does anyone here buy such lots? Is this effective strategy for the seller?---I would think smaller lots would attract more buyers.

Seems odd to me, especially for such random mixed lots.

I might theoretically bid on such a lot, but it would have to be just the right lot. Or I might join a group bid. But the sheer size and randomness of them means that there's probably something in the lot that I just don't want, and that will hold my bids down because I'm only willing to pay for the bottles I actually want.

I've bought some mixed lots from other regions when I want to explore and try new things, and when the price is right. But these are usually a case or so. 40? Nope.

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I do wonder if a reseller might bid on such a lot.

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Eric Menchen wrote:I do wonder if a reseller might bid on such a lot.

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I don't know--when you add in premium and shipping if you bid the suggested minimum you're at $60/bottle....so no super great deal IMHO.

That's a huge mixed lot. Way to big to buy unless I really wanted most of what was in it. Strange that they would put them out there like that. Especially the 1992/2003 taylor's, at a case each into one lot. I guess someone will buy it for the right price.

I've had some very good results buying large auction lots - lazy auctioneers bundle stock together without thinking about who is likely to buy them.

Definitely not good for the vendor though - single cases almost always secure bids that are more than half the winning bid on a two case lot, and five case parcels can be a real bargain if the reserve is not too high.

Another trick to bear in mind when a large parcel comes to auction and is sold case by case, is that when there's say, three cases of 12 and then a part case of 10 - look out for the part case. Buyers placing absentee bids tend to focus on the full cases and the wash-up part case is often a fair bit cheaper, when proportioned out.

Agree Tom ... that or the first 2 bottles of that other case were either underwhelming, flawed or corked.

that or the first 2 bottles of that other case were either underwhelming, flawed or corked.

In the UK at least, there is very little evidence of that where port is concerned.

White wines though are routinely dumped at auction when they go over the hill..

Roy Hersh wrote:Agree Tom ... that or the first 2 bottles of that other case were either underwhelming, flawed or corked.

If I saw a solo case at an auction, this would be a suspicion. If I saw an entire large collection at auction from a single source, I would be a little less concerned. Of course the seller still might be dumping just the bad stuff, but if there many lots for sale, they could just be liquidating everything.

Eric Menchen wrote:

Roy Hersh wrote:Agree Tom ... that or the first 2 bottles of that other case were either underwhelming, flawed or corked.

If I saw a solo case at an auction, this would be a suspicion. If I saw an entire large collection at auction from a single source, I would be a little less concerned. Of course the seller still might be dumping just the bad stuff, but if there many lots for sale, they could just be liquidating everything.

That's basically what I look at as well.

The odd solo case with one or two missing is a big red flag. Not always warranted, but I would do a lot of homework into that lot to make sure it wasn't flawed in some way prior to buying.

Collectors of fine art are already selling to cover margin calls. Worldwide stock and commodity prices are crashing. Unfortunately it doesn't take a degree in economics to see that this is just the beginning. Long story short, the world is bankrupt and notes are being call in. What this means is rare wine collections will be coming to auction and sold to those not caught in the squeeze. Of course that's just my opinion and as always your mileage may vary.

Edward J wrote:Collectors of fine art are already selling to cover margin calls. Worldwide stock and commodity prices are crashing. Unfortunately it doesn't take a degree in economics to see that this is just the beginning. Long story short, the world is bankrupt and notes are being call in. What this means is rare wine collections will be coming to auction and sold to those not caught in the squeeze. Of course that's just my opinion and as always your mileage may vary.

If wine auctions go back to 2007ish prices, I will be bidding often...

Edward J wrote:Collectors of fine art are already selling to cover margin calls. Worldwide stock and commodity prices are crashing. Unfortunately it doesn't take a degree in economics to see that this is just the beginning. Long story short, the world is bankrupt and notes are being call in. What this means is rare wine collections will be coming to auction and sold to those not caught in the squeeze. Of course that's just my opinion and as always your mileage may vary.

They may need it to drink to ease the pain, lol Seriously though, if it continues its slide, which is quite possible then at some point we will again see some people sending some part or all of their wine collections to auction as what happened some years ago in the last downturn. I still think we are a little ways off from that though.

The odd solo case with one or two missing is a big red flag

It can be. Some people buy umpteen cases, sample odds and ends and then offload the remainder because they've either died or moved on to another passion..

Context is everything, and it has to be said that that the mightiest auction houses are the worst at providing it. With the smaller auction houses I can can phone them and ask for the background on an interesting lot, and usually get very candid answers.

London's 'unholy trinity' are a very different kettle of fish however. One of them now seeks my input on port lots on a fairly regular basis, (albeit discreetly) in return for which I get some background on their other offerings. However I do struggle to find reasons why sane vendors would want to sell anything other than the most exceptional lots through this trio..

Tom Archer wrote:

The odd solo case with one or two missing is a big red flag

It can be. Some people buy umpteen cases, sample odds and ends and then offload the remainder because they've either died or moved on to another passion..

Context is everything, and it has to be said that that the mightiest auction houses are the worst at providing it. With the smaller auction houses I can can phone them and ask for the background on an interesting lot, and usually get very candid answers.

London's 'unholy trinity' are a very different kettle of fish however. One of them now seeks my input on port lots on a fairly regular basis, (albeit discreetly) in return for which I get some background on their other offerings. However I do struggle to find reasons why sane vendors would want to sell anything other than the most exceptional lots through this trio..

I agree and if I can't verify I pass almost every time. The exception is if the price is so good it's worth the risk. Then I always try one when I first get it. So far my homework has paid off and I've not had any bad bottles in these types of almost-case lots. But I rarely end up buying them.