I’m curious what doesn’t make sense. I have no affiliation etc, but I’ve seen this situation a number of times. If I got hit by a bus tomorrow my family would be dealing with thousands of btls some of which are quite old. Would they be able to find the paper work for those btls? -no chance. I know exactly where they came from, but in many private transactions people don’t write up receipts etc.
I agree that if he wants anywhere near fair value he should go to an auction house or send the list to a few places for review.
I do love the lines like “removed from 55’ degree cellar” I know one individual who routinely has bought wines from marginal situations, they’ve gone into his cellar and then on to auction houses that list the wines as coming from a custom cellar etc. I suspect some people slept in ethics class growing up.
Paul has the poster emailed photos as requested or permitted Ribert to come over for free to help out? Why wouldn’t he contact a wine store or google wine appraisers for his local area? He doesn’t know squat about wine but wants to keep all the wines from 1900 onward to help build out his wine cellar.
Someone who has the seemingly very expensive wines involved would leave to the wine to someone who knows nothing about wine and without any paperwork such as insurance or appraisals of what sounds to be a highly valuable collection?
He knows absolutely jack about wine but questions the labels on some of them?
Guys, I have been super busy with business travels and vacation. Justin, thanks for uploading those three pics. I have contacted an auction house to try to assess some of these wines, but I haven’t had a moment to follow up yet. And Andrew, the only paperwork we have found is a notebook with some handwriting in it about different bottles. The grandparents were private people, and I think this was just supposed to be a nice collection passed down to the grandkids. You are right, I don’t know jack about wines, but I am a very good investigator. I brought up the bit about the labels because two of them look very similar, and I found that suspicious because they are from two different chateaus. Once I am back home I can take more photos and pass them along to someone. Thanks for everyone’s help. I will try to contact Maureen soon for assistance.
I’m very interested in hearing what Maureen might say about these. I’m no professional, but they look odd to me… so many water stains (in irregular patterns that don’t seem to follow water drops falling on bottles stored sideways) on the labels, yet all edges are sharp and linear on all the labels. I would have expected all labels to be heavily rotted/degenerated after 100+ years of appropriate storage.
Bo, bottles like these would require a level of expertise that even few here on this board would possess. If your only goal is to sell them, then it makes sense just to contact an auction house. They would evaluate and authenticate them. I know of reputable auction houses in California, Chicago and NYC. There may also be one in Houston, which would be a lot more convenient for you.
Maureen Downey is one of the top experts, but I’m not sure why it would be in your interest to pay her to evaluate these. Any auction house that feels they are legitimate is going to try to sell them for the highest price possible since they make their money as a percentage of what you make. Also, wines like this are very rare, so the auction environment is the best way to get the attention of the largest number of specialized collectors.
What little the photos show, looks genuine and aged to Me.
All three, are bottled by S Larcher Pere & Fils Jeune, - a larger negociant, at that time. -And still in business today.
The capsule, cork, fill and color, are very important factors, when evaluating the integrity, and quality.
This has to be done by experts, physically examining the bottles.
I hope You will post the results, when these interesting bottles go for sale.
