Hi All -
Given that I’m beginning to try out the buying wines at auction houses, and the issues of 97 Harlan, what other bottles out there would or do you shy away from?
97 Harlan
5 to 10 year old Aussie’s excluding Grange
any 95+ spainish from from the past couple years
?
??
Thanks. Doug
1971 Ponsot Clos St. Denis
Have you tasted any of the 5 to 10 year old Aussie wines? What about 95+ Spanish? Maybe it would be time to buy/bid since there are people who instantly pan on Jay’s reviews just because its Jay.
What wines do you like to buy and drink?
Would you normally buy a bottle of 97 Harlan?
How much do you want to spend? (no reason to tell you to avoid 1000+ bottles if you only want to spend $100, etc…)
Question: how is this any different than “wines I wouldn’t buy”?
seepage scares me, as it does in so many aspects of life.
I probably wouldn’t buy Two Buck Chuck at auction.
Assuming you mean wines released a while ago that were not what they were cracked up to be, and in some cases have actually cracked up:
Behrens & Hitchcock. Most White Burgundy 96 and after. 04 Leroy Reds. Weinbach 04s with the vino-lok.
Those would be wines that I think have “issues” a la Harlan 97.
The other examples you give may be steals vis a vis someone’s palate. I don’t tend to like some of the ultramodern Spanish stuff, not a lot of highly-touted Aussie Shiraz, but there are examples of the latter I like, and I could see some of them being the baby with the bathwater for some collectors.
Have you seen problems with that closure? Is that the glass one?
I think auctions are for buying things that you KNOW that you like (actually love). I would never consider buying anything at aution that I had any doubts about…
Yes. I’ve experienced a couple of oxidation issues with them. I think the early generation of that closure may have been imperfect - or at least I have experienced weird flavors. I gather Weinbach still uses them on some wines, though none that I have seen since. Not sure if that’s the importer, or if I am just seeing the wrong wines.
I like the idea of the vino-lok, and would retry, but not 04.
I’ve been buying things to drink that aren’t easily available to buy now. Examples: Napa Cabs from the 80’s, 1990 Sauternes.
I have lots of stuff that needs another 5 to 10 years, but not many mature wines. Since I’m new to buying wine at auction, I figure this is like a class where I’m going to learn by making mistakes. But I’d like to minimize them, and be current on potential issue ie Harlan 97.
If you are looking for classes of wine I would not buy at auction, it would be trophy wines where some rich idiots compete with each other to “win” the wine and pay more than the same wine costs at retail.
I also would generally avoid bottles with mid-shoulder fills and below, such as:
1961 Château Latour Bordeaux Red Blends (Claret) Premier Cru (First Growth) | WineBid" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The wine might be OK, but if I’m going to spend $$$ for the bottle, I would like a bottle as full as possible, thank you very much…
Bruce