This autumn, in the pre-Christmas stock buying season, prices have been moving firmly upward - until today.
I suspect that with the lead time from auction to delivery, and the uncertainty of winning lots, most merchants had already completed their seasonal aquisitions before today's sale.
Hammer prices were decidedly lean on all save the very oldest wines, and many lots failed to sell.
Notably, the market seems to have gone into over supply on the 63's (Alex, take note!) and the rush of enthusiasm for the '97's seems to have petered out - I bought a lot of 12 Niepoort '97 and 12 QH '97 for just £260...
Prices for Vesuvio were also low, and many of the less well known brands went unsold.
Tom
Bonhams sale today
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Tom Archer
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While I didn't take advantage of any of the prices for the '63s (but will likely continue to pick up the odd bottle or two here or there) I did manage to get another of my target wines at the Bonhams auction last week. Two dozen Quinta do Vesuvio 1994 for £180 per dozen (plus buyers premium) - delivered to my house these will cost me less than £20 per bottle. This is a wine that I have been patiently waiting to see at auction and at a price that I think is reasonable. The wines currently retail for £45+ in the UK and generally go for auction for around £30-35 per bottle.
So this is my Christmas present to myself. I'm just so chuffed as I need to make sure that I still have at least 1 case for my daughter in 2015 and with this purchase I now have a much better chance of being able to do this and can afford to drink three bottles of this fabulous wine a year between now and her 21st birthday.
Alex
So this is my Christmas present to myself. I'm just so chuffed as I need to make sure that I still have at least 1 case for my daughter in 2015 and with this purchase I now have a much better chance of being able to do this and can afford to drink three bottles of this fabulous wine a year between now and her 21st birthday.
Alex
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Jay Powers
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- Location: Pacifica, California, United States of America - USA
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I agree completely...
What a shame that you guys have such great access to the auctions and these wines at such wonderful prices....
In all seriousness, I've been wracking my brain to figure out how we could set up some kind of buying cooperative here in the states that would all us to be able to collectively take advantage of some of those good deals you guys are getting in the UK.
Unfortunately, we have the really arcane three-tier system here in the states that makes it more problematic...
Any ideas anyone has about how we could set something up, please post or PM me!
In all seriousness, I've been wracking my brain to figure out how we could set up some kind of buying cooperative here in the states that would all us to be able to collectively take advantage of some of those good deals you guys are getting in the UK.
Unfortunately, we have the really arcane three-tier system here in the states that makes it more problematic...
Any ideas anyone has about how we could set something up, please post or PM me!
Stewart,
There's no secret to it. You can set up a storage account with one of the third party storage companies that we use in the UK - Octavian, Private Reserves or Seckford Wines are three that immedaitely spring to mind.
You would pay between £5 and £10 per case to store wine for 12 months.
Then go spend your money. Buy some of the ports we keep writing about and have them delivered to your UK storage location. Once you have a large enough number of cases in UK storage you can talk to one of the specialist wine transport companies about shipping the wine from the UK to the US (or just come and collect it if all you want is a single case). The shipper will then put together the pallet or container and get it moved to your side of the Pond, including clearing it through customs and paying the required taxes. All you have to do is to pay the bill. The more you ship, the cheaper the rate per case. From the occasional enquiry that I have made, shipping a single case would cost around £50-60.
Of course, you would also have to make sure that you get the wine shipped to whichever Forumite member's state has the lowest tax rate for imported wines.
Alex
There's no secret to it. You can set up a storage account with one of the third party storage companies that we use in the UK - Octavian, Private Reserves or Seckford Wines are three that immedaitely spring to mind.
You would pay between £5 and £10 per case to store wine for 12 months.
Then go spend your money. Buy some of the ports we keep writing about and have them delivered to your UK storage location. Once you have a large enough number of cases in UK storage you can talk to one of the specialist wine transport companies about shipping the wine from the UK to the US (or just come and collect it if all you want is a single case). The shipper will then put together the pallet or container and get it moved to your side of the Pond, including clearing it through customs and paying the required taxes. All you have to do is to pay the bill. The more you ship, the cheaper the rate per case. From the occasional enquiry that I have made, shipping a single case would cost around £50-60.
Of course, you would also have to make sure that you get the wine shipped to whichever Forumite member's state has the lowest tax rate for imported wines.
Alex
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simon Lisle
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- Location: Newcastle, United Kingdom - UK
I have no idea what Wokingham Vesuvio lake you might be referring to 
I like to have a well balanced cellar, holding only superb wines that I will pass on to my children when their time has come. If the majority of wines happens to be from a leading producer from the Upper Douro that can only be because their wines are delicious.
Actually, despite the fact that '94 is Emma's birth year, these wines are for me. 6 have gone into current storage for drinking over the next 2-3 years and the balance sent off to Octavian for drinking over the following 6-10 years.
(A very happy) Alex
I like to have a well balanced cellar, holding only superb wines that I will pass on to my children when their time has come. If the majority of wines happens to be from a leading producer from the Upper Douro that can only be because their wines are delicious.
Actually, despite the fact that '94 is Emma's birth year, these wines are for me. 6 have gone into current storage for drinking over the next 2-3 years and the balance sent off to Octavian for drinking over the following 6-10 years.
(A very happy) Alex