For The Love Of Port

Lot 143 at the December 15th, Acker NY auction, has a bottle of 1795 Companhia Vinicola da Madeira, Terrantez for sale. Good luck to all.

Providence?
Wasn't Acker the main outlet for Rudy?

Eric Ifune wrote:Providence?
Wasn't Acker the main outlet for Rudy?

Yes and why I refuse to buy from them. I have zero trust in them after reading what Don C. Has uncovered about them and their relationship with Rudy.

Regardless of the Rudy nonsense, the person that alerted me to this bottle, is a friend and the seller. No question about this one being 100% real.

Regardless of the Rudy nonsense, the person that alerted me to this bottle, is a friend and the seller. No question about this one being 100% real.

In that case, my curiosity is piqued.
Roy, do you know why your friend chose Acker as opposed to some other auction houses?

Roy Hersh wrote:Regardless of the Rudy nonsense, the person that alerted me to this bottle, is a friend and the seller. No question about this one being 100% real.

I have no issue with this bottle per se, just to be clear. As Rudy stuck to faking BDX and Burg's as far as I've read/heard. But after reading all the info regarding how Acker acted as a business, as it pertains to the whole "Rudy affair", I refuse to support them by giving them my money.

Then don't.

Eric, actually I have no idea why he chose this particular auction house.

I no longer do :)

I would think that those who follow wine auctions would know something of Acker's indiscresions. If I were a seller, I would avoid them for that reason, unless I had rock solid provenance. I would be scared serious purchasers would avoid Acker or only buy my lots at low bid.

I have bought at Acker, and may again; but admit I am not all that familiar with the Rudy affair. As for my limited experience with the major traditional auction houses, I found TCWC to have sold bottles in the best shape, followed by Christie's and Zachy's (about the same), then Acker. So on that one criteria, Acker is at the bottom of my list. I believe Christie's and TCWC both sold Hardy Rodenstock bottles, and I wouldn't call their dealings with this issue exemplary.

Agreed. It is easy to cast stones. We only know what was reported in both incidents and there are certainly bloggers with agendas and authors as well. Anyway, I have never bought from Acker so it makes no difference to me. The individual selling his Madeira there though, is beyond reproach.

Eric Menchen wrote:I have bought at Acker, and may again; but admit I am not all that familiar with the Rudy affair. As for my limited experience with the major traditional auction houses, I found TCWC to have sold bottles in the best shape, followed by Christie's and Zachy's (about the same), then Acker. So on that one criteria, Acker is at the bottom of my list. I believe Christie's and TCWC both sold Hardy Rodenstock bottles, and I wouldn't call their dealings with this issue exemplary.

TCWC sells some really nice stuff and some more risky "end-of-bin" stuff, but at least they seem to do a fair job of describing condition either way (I've both sold and bought there in the past), and their pricing is often pretty buyer-friendly, which makes it worth taking a chance once in awhile. I'm lucky to live close enough to go inspect lots before bidding. They seem to have had a pretty good little selection of Port in their last few auctions.

I've also had decent luck with Acker, although I'm typically not purchasing the kind of ultra-high-end stuff that could be subject to hanky-panky.

Port does seem to present some special challenges when buying at auction or retail, as I think some sellers believe Port is so sturdy that a little seepage or other condition issues aren't really worth noting

Tom D. wrote:TCWC sells some really nice stuff and some more risky "end-of-bin" stuff, but at least they seem to do a fair job of describing condition either way ...

Yes. And they put their more risky bottles in a separate caveat emptor section. I've found some of those caveat emptor bottles to be nicer than primary listing bottles I've purchased elsewhere. Just my observations.

A friend from this forum wrote to me:

"Maybe you already saw this, but I just looked at a recent HDH auction and saw that 3 bottles of 1795 Barbeito Terrantez (lot 783, Dec 8 auction) went for $13,185 total."

"Maybe you already saw this, but I just looked at a recent HDH auction and saw that 3 bottles of 1795 Barbeito Terrantez (lot 783, Dec 8 auction) went for $13,185 total."

I've noticed that since the Great Terrantez Tasting last year, prices for these old Terrantezes have increased. I guess publicity is both good and bad!

So I guess I was lucky when I bought the 1795T Barbeito yetsreday at a total (inc. tax and shipping etc.) @ 1400 EUR/1800 USD.

Well, but since the 1795T Barb. is quite hard to find I thought I'd just pull the trigger.