HDH action questions

HDH has an auction tomorrow from the cellar of an Italian restaurant in NY. There are over 3400 lots. The auction is over 2 days. The stated that the first 1711 lots will be auctioned tomorrow starting at 8 CDT (9EDT) with the rest on Saturday.

How long does each day last? If 8 hours, they would auction more than 210 lots per hour which is 3.5 lots per minute.

I think it’s a live auction. How many rooms do they run at once in their Delaware location? How do they auction 3.5 lots per minute?

Thanks,

Lonnie

My guess is that it takes at least 13 hours per day. The burg auction had 1000 fewer lots and it still took nearly 12 hours.

Yes my experience is about 100 lots an hour. It’s only one room. Best way to bid is to put in the max beforehand and use bid groups to make sure you don’t overspend.

Overspend? I don’t understand this concept.

I’ve found that they are rapid fire lots. Best not to wait for a lot to show up to bid. Pre-bidding is the way to go. You get it, great. If not, there is always more wine.

Also - HDH is habitually low in their pre-auction estimates for what things will sell for. High end or above is typical (in my limited experience with a sample size of 1)

HDH has a great app and web operation with live video of the currently solo, socially distanced auctioneer. I participated in my first Sotheby’s auction this week and found the interface far inferior to HDH. Some better deals though :slight_smile:

Thanks everyone. I put in some bids as a group with a limit of 1 lot. We’ll see.

Also remember their BP is 19.5% (with a 1% carry to your next auction if you pay quick) vs others at 24% so adjust accordingly. And yes, the estimates are low

Quick math tip just divide case price by 10 and that’s bottle price. Makes it really easy! Their interface is so good, wish others used it.

Fascinating to watch.

Yes, though as others predicted the lots are pretty uniformly going for above the high estimate. A relief as that means my low bids in tomorrow’s section are unlikely to win :slight_smile:

$600 per for 2013 burlotto monvig. OK then…

Some of the HDH estimates are low, some aren’t (vs. retail/avg prices I would expect wine to go for). But either way, the bidding today is so fierce as it has been in many recent auctions, it’s almost hard to believe. I give some credit to superb provenance in this auction so I expect / would myself bid above “retail”, but some things are going 50-100% higher than I bid and I bid aggressively. 2013 Burlotto Monvigliero just went for $600/btl with premium - it’s been available at smaller auctions or at retail for more like $300-350/btl. 2015 Burlotto Monvigliero went for $280/btl with premium when it’s available in quantity at retail for $175.

Anyway, fascinating to watch indeed!

Things were absolutely bonkers. Stuff I thought no one cared about sold 2-4x retail. I get a premium for the provenance, I was prepared to pay a decent premium, but this market is nuts. I’ve got some things earmarked fro tomorrow, so we’ll see. I was prepared to buy a lot of wine at this auction, but I wasn’t prepared for this surge in hammer prices. I guess it is a good thing as my cellar is pretty full and I was going to have to sell some stuff to get new stuff in.

Even Aldo Conterno is trading well.

Is there a feed for the live auction somewhere?

If you log in:
https://auction.hdhwine.com/auctions/1-2PUKUX/the-del-posto-collection-july-24-25

Click on “Bid Live” you will go to the stream.

Oh I thought there was a way to watch without registering.

After the auction, HDH will claim a great success in their auction by comparing pre-sale hammer estimates vs. post sale hammer plus premiums. Very misleading.

I was casting a quick eye over it and tuned out right around the time a case of the 2006 Pie Franco went for 5K (which was just after the Monvigliero you’re referencing). Oof.

I hadn’t placed any bids, but I didn’t expect to - this isn’t where the value is at the moment, though I congratulate everyone who won. [cheers.gif]