My uncle was an odd job man for an old couple. Recently the husband past away in his nineties and he was given the job of clearing the garage. He came across some old wine and was told he could take a couple of bottles home with him. He showed them to my sister who noticed that one was a bottle with the label; Taylors 1948 vintage. I've looked at the bottle myself and it seems well intact with no damage apart from the label. I've had a little search about on Google and it appears it may be worth something. Could any one please let me know the best course of action to take with regards selling it and what price to accept; I personally like the idea of drinking it but I don't think that's going to happen somehow.
Boat.
Taylors 1948 Vintage.
Moderators: Glenn E., Roy Hersh, Andy Velebil
Taylors 1948 is a wine with a great reputation. If it had been stored perfectly - in a room with steady temperature of around 12C and no light - then it would probably sell at auction for something in the region of £300 (out of which you would have to take 10% + VAT for the auctioneer's commission).
However, since this wine was stored in a garage it is likely to have been exposed to some extremes of temperature and will have suffered in quality as a result. This would affect the resale value of the wine, anything from hardly at all to knocking £200 of the value.
A lot of it will depend on the level that the wine reaches in the bottle - if it goes up into the neck, that's very good. If it barely reaches the shoulders of the bottle, that's very bad (and would pretty much mean the bottle was worthless).
Then there's also the question of what the cork looks like. Has it been pushed out of the bottle at all? If the cork protrudes out of the top of the bottle, this is a sign that the bottle has been subjected to excess heat (knocking value off the wine). Are there signs around the cork that would indicate that the cork has been leaking and that the wine has been seeping out of the bottle?
And finally, how have you / your sister / your uncle been storing the wine and for how long? If its been standing up for a while, the cork may have dried out and the wine is now exposed to the air.
In summary, if you sold the wine through an auction I would expect that you would get approximately £150 for it (but this will very much depend on the appearance of the bottle and the wine inside). But how often will you have the chance to open a bottle of wine that is nearly 60 years old.......
However, since this wine was stored in a garage it is likely to have been exposed to some extremes of temperature and will have suffered in quality as a result. This would affect the resale value of the wine, anything from hardly at all to knocking £200 of the value.
A lot of it will depend on the level that the wine reaches in the bottle - if it goes up into the neck, that's very good. If it barely reaches the shoulders of the bottle, that's very bad (and would pretty much mean the bottle was worthless).
Then there's also the question of what the cork looks like. Has it been pushed out of the bottle at all? If the cork protrudes out of the top of the bottle, this is a sign that the bottle has been subjected to excess heat (knocking value off the wine). Are there signs around the cork that would indicate that the cork has been leaking and that the wine has been seeping out of the bottle?
And finally, how have you / your sister / your uncle been storing the wine and for how long? If its been standing up for a while, the cork may have dried out and the wine is now exposed to the air.
In summary, if you sold the wine through an auction I would expect that you would get approximately £150 for it (but this will very much depend on the appearance of the bottle and the wine inside). But how often will you have the chance to open a bottle of wine that is nearly 60 years old.......
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Tom Archer
- Posts: 2790
- Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2005 8:09 pm
- Location: Near Saffron Walden, England
Alex (bridgema) is absolutely right. For a bottle this old, the way it has been stored makes all the difference to the value.
Where in Dorset are you? I have a charity bash to attend in Dartmouth on Tuesday evening (for which I have been asked to dress as a pirate..
..it's a long story..) If not too far off route I could drop by Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning and give you an opinion.
Tom
Where in Dorset are you? I have a charity bash to attend in Dartmouth on Tuesday evening (for which I have been asked to dress as a pirate..
..it's a long story..) If not too far off route I could drop by Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning and give you an opinion.Tom
And a photograph of Tom in pirate costume would be well worth posting here when we have the photo section running.
More seriously, if you take some photographs of the bottle, that would be very helpful. Make sure you take pictures of the neck / cork and also make sure that you indicate in some way the level of the wine in the bottle in some of the pictures. However, at the moment, you can't post the pictures here but you could email them through to me - my email address is on my profile.
But the best way to get an opinion would be to take advantage of Tom's offer, if geography allows.
Alex
More seriously, if you take some photographs of the bottle, that would be very helpful. Make sure you take pictures of the neck / cork and also make sure that you indicate in some way the level of the wine in the bottle in some of the pictures. However, at the moment, you can't post the pictures here but you could email them through to me - my email address is on my profile.
But the best way to get an opinion would be to take advantage of Tom's offer, if geography allows.
Alex