Vintage Port up for auction

[Tom D.]

I recently decided to substantially trim my cellar (Vintage Ports as well as other wines). I'm not getting out of the Port-drinking business by any means, I've just decided it's time to redeploy my limited budget into a selection of bottles that are more suited to my current tastes (mostly older Vintage Ports), plus I overbought in a few cases.

The current (April 28th) auction at The Chicago Wine Company (http://www.tcwc.com/) includes a fair number of Vintage Ports, and many of them are from my cellar, including a number of half-bottles.

This is not an endorsement one way or the other for TCWC, although I can certainly vouch for the condition of the VP's, as well as a couple hundred other non-Ports, which I consigned to this auction (about a third of my entire cellar). TCWC charges no buyer's premium, and there are often deals to be had. I'm guessing many of these bottles will sell for less than I paid for them, but hopefully they will go to good homes, and I will soon be able to go on a modest wine shopping spree...

Thanks.

[Eric Menchen]

I saw the unusual amount of half bottles listed and was intrigued. I looked at the listing as soon as it came out because I'm still hunting for some 1994 Taylor. Zachy's has some this month, TCWC doesn't have any full bottles, but a few halves which might be yours.

[Glenn E.]

That's a nice selection of Port. I wish I had more room (and more money!) because then I'd be bidding on several of those lots. As it is... well there's one or two that I might try to get.

I have no experience with VP in 375s... though of course I've read what others have posted here. Has anyone ever figured out a rough guide to how much faster they age than a 750?

[Tom D.]

Eric, those two halves of 1994 Taylor are definitely mine. I went through a phase when almost all my purchases were halves. I'm still keeping quite a few, as they sometimes suit us best -- my wife just can't shoulder her share when it comes to full bottles . Also, sad to admit, but I sometimes really feel like having a glass or two, but don't anticipate being able to finish a full bottle within a week or so . In my experience with non-fortified wines, I also like the half-bottles because we can pull one and drink it ourselves, as a cheaper way to check the ongoing development of a wine, without having to pull a full bottle from the cellar, which we may wish to save for a gathering.

Glenn, I agree, and like others I have observed a significant acceleration in the development of half-bottles of non-fortified wines, like Bordeaux (although not as much as the 2:1 ratio some folks have observed), and definitely for sparkling wines. For VP's, I will defer to those here with more experience, but I haven't found the effect as pronounced in my limited experience, at least as far back as some 1983 and 1985's I've tasted out of halves.

[Jim R.]

Tom

I have been going to tenths in the last 15 years and can say that the Port aging is definitely not a two for one time line and really varies from producer to producer and vintage to vintage. The great thing about collecting is the tracking of your wines as they age and any changes to your original assumptions as you taste them. Good luck on your sale and future purchases. Unfortunately I will not be able to compete for any of your gems.

Jim

[Roy Hersh]

My very earliest Port purchases from auction were TCWC when the Davis' were involved (they may still be for all I know) about 18 years ago. I bought cases of 1970 and 1977 magnums back then in amazing condition and still own the vast majority of them. TCWC was one of the very first legal auctioneers for wine in America and their reputation was 2nd to none.

Glad to hear them mentioned here. I find it amazing that they don't charge a buyer's premium and they may be the only house that does not do so. Interesting.

As to aging in half bottles, I have talked to Dr. Dick Peterson, one of the foremost leading scientists of wine in his day. He also took over as winemaker from Andre Tchelistcheff at the end of his career as winemaker of the famous BV Georges de Latour and raised his daughther Heidi Peterson-Barrett, who is possibly the most famous woman winemaker in America. Dr. Peterson did a lot of study on 1/2 bottle aging and I remember he commented that it is impossible to draw a straight line methodology when showing the aging curve of a 375 ml bottle vs. 750 and 1500 ml bottles. However, I clearly remember he mentioned that the single greatest determinant, was temperature and the higher the temperature, the faster the aging of a smaller bottle of wine, regardless of vintage/producer. So I will never forget that lesson and if you own 375 ml bottles, I'd advise keep them on lowest shelves possible in your cellar at the coolest temperatures, unless you are intentionally trying to provide quicker aging to your half bottles.

Good luck in your sale Tom!

[Tom D.]

Good luck in your sale Tom!

Thanks Roy. Those empty grids in the cellar are just waiting to be refilled

[Eric Menchen]

Anyone bidding on Tom's bottles? I haven't sent a bid sheet in yet, but have been thinking seriously about doing so.

[Tom D.]

The auction turned out pretty well. I think buyers, Port and otherwise, got fair prices; and I got enough cash to do some shopping. I was surprised the 1994 Taylor halves did not sell, despite a reserve that was way below any retail prices I've seen. I'll probably let them go through one more auction, then pull them back into my cellar if they don't sell -- 100 pointers always make good gifts for clients.

For anyone who submitted bids,

[Moses Botbol]

The auction turned out pretty well. I think buyers, Port and otherwise, got fair prices; and I got enough cash to do some shopping. I was surprised the 1994 Taylor halves did not sell, despite a reserve that was way below any retail prices I've seen. I'll probably let them go through one more auction, then pull them back into my cellar if they don't sell -- 100 pointers always make good gifts for clients.

For anyone who submitted bids,

Sell them privately here and I bet you'll get what you want as we would save the hammer fee which can make a buy/not buy decision.

[Tom D.]

Sell them privately here and I bet you'll get what you want as we would save the hammer fee which can make a buy/not buy decision.

Actually the buyer pays no fee at TCWC. But in any event, they're committed to go through one more TCWC auction next month. After that, I'll let the FTLOP'ers know of anything that doesn't sell.

Thanks!

[Tom D.]

I sent a few more older bottles down to The Chicago Wine Company for this Wednesday's auction (a few 1963 Taylor and others). TCWC have done pretty well for me, as far as helping me clean out some excess stock from my cellar and free up a little cash for new purchases. And without a buyer's premium some good prices can be had, so I think it's a good deal for everyone. I've got lots of non-Port bottles in this auction also, so the good news is when all the dust settles from my cellar-cleaning, Port will actually represent a larger % of my holdings than ever (over 35% of my cellar). And I've already been able to use some of the freed-up cash to make a few purchases, which have helped bring the average age of my Ports to almost 40 years. (Fortunately, while my wife is not a huge fan of Port, or booze in general, she has a strong preference for well-aged stuff, and I'm more than happy to move the cellar in that direction.)

[Roy Hersh]

Tom,

Please forgive me being a bit confused. Don't you have to pay a Seller's Premium, pay to ship the wines to auction, pay for insurance and then have to wait until a month or more after the sale to get paid?

IF that is the case ... why wouldn't you offer your Ports here for sale instead? You'd be paid up front, know that it would be going to someone who would be thrilled to obtain well-stored old bottles, etc. Plus you would not have to pay the premium or shipping at all. That said, why did you not consider offering your Ports right here? Just curious. Thanks for your candor (in advance)!

[Tom D.]

Tom,

Please forgive me being a bit confused. Don't you have to pay a Seller's Premium, pay to ship the wines to auction, pay for insurance and then have to wait until a month or more after the sale to get paid?

IF that is the case ... why wouldn't you offer your Ports here for sale instead? You'd be paid up front, know that it would be going to someone who would be thrilled to obtain well-stored old bottles, etc. Plus you would not have to pay the premium or shipping at all. That said, why did you not consider offering your Ports right here? Just curious. Thanks for your candor (in advance)!

Fair questions, Roy! You caused me to reflect for a while, and here is what I came up with...

I do pay a seller's premium, but I do not have to pay shipping or insurance as I live only two hours from the TCWC warehouse and deliver the wine in person.

I really haven't seen a lot of buy/sell offers in this forum in the short time I've been around, so I guess it never occured to me to just offer the wines here.

In general I like to avoid private sales because I really don't have the time or desire to deal with boxing and shipping multiple orders, especially via our local Fedex and UPS offices, who are very officious and tough to deceive when trying to ship wine.

Auction is the lazy way out, especially since TCWC has also been selling several hundred bottles of non-Port for me, so I can just dump the whole lot at their door and not have to deal with it again.

Quite honestly, I've mentally moved on to buying new wines with most of the auction proceeds, and I really don't want to spend a lot of time dealing with getting rid of the old stuff. I guess that's how a lot of good bottles end up at auction.

Finally, while my bottles are all in what I consider very good condition or better, I don't wish to assume the role of representing that to a potential buyer. The auctioneer knows how they've been stored, has inspected them all thoroughly, and it's up to him to stand behind them. While I would love for these bottles to end up the hands of fellow FTLOP Port lovers, I would feel bad to learn that one of you purchased wine from me and found it flawed -- even if all parties agree it's not my fault and just one of the risks of wine, I would still feel bad about that. The auction process makes it more impersonal, adding the auctioneer's imprimatur and reputation (for what it's worth) and removing that stress from me.

So, on the whole, for these and probably other reasons, I'd rather give up a few bucks and let the auctioneer deal with everything. But in the case of the Port, I at least wanted to post a heads-up here, as this Port community seems relatively close-knit and there probably are a few good deals there.

[Moses Botbol]

Tom, your concerns are valid for sure. Is being a potentially crappy situation with a forum member and the shipping hassle worth a few hundred bucks? Probably not.