A few wines from Zachys auction

WINE TALK
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As a consignor, a little disappointed. Wines mostly sold at low estimate, and a few passed lots. Tariffs did not seem to be making much difference,

On the the plus side, I picked up an 1870 Cognac at the reserve. Also on the plus sides were some really good wines including a quartet of 1986s. I did not take notes, but there were a couple of Berserkers at our table, and I am sure they can fill in the gaps.

Starting with a couple of fine 2013s white Burgundies.

It’s hard to compete with a Coche firing on all cylinders. In this case, a 2013 village Mersault from a good but not great vintage. How Coche can wring out so much complexity in the village is way beyond my understanding. A brilliant wine, and certainly the best white I tasted.

The Chavy a Premier crew Puligny Les folatiers also from the 2013 vintage was quite lovely and would have graced any table, but as I said competition was very harsh.

Then to the flight of 1986, three from Bordeaux and the Ridge Montebello. My order the Ridge was an easy winner, followed by the Lafleur, light and sensual, a fine La Mission which opened up beautifully, and finally the Margaux, decent, pleasant, but not of first growth quality. The Ridge was undoubtedly the wine of the lunch, cigar box, cassis and leather. I think it was also interesting how surprised people were by the wine.

Zachys was generous with the pours. As well as the Lafleur and Margaux 1986, they also brought a 1994 Harlan. A lovely bottle poured blind, and having a Bordeaux soul. If the Harlan 1994 was Bordeauxish. the Parker 100 point Beausejour Duffau 1990 conversely had lost its way and showed little Bordeaux character.

A 1961 Volnay from the hospices out of magnum was another beauty, with the soft perfumed fruit of a fully mature Burgundy. Absolutely gorgeous, and a reminder of why I should be looking for old bottles of the Côte de Beaune. I wish I had taken a slightly bigger pour.

Finally a 1997 Pegau from magnum, was perhaps not my style, but a nicely made wine. I think Gavin who brought it, hit a home run a few days ago, with a Vieux Telegraph 1995, but this was a little too modern for me. He did share it with a number of people, and I think they really enjoyed it.

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I’ve been wondering how (and how quickly) the tariff crap would impact the auction market. Sounds like not much so far? Maybe that is because the tariffs have been of the now-you-see-them variety. If the market believed substantial tariffs were here to stay for a while, I would imagine the auction market would get a significant bump

Thx for the notes

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2008 Peres Fils Corton Charlemagne - oxidized
2013 Alain Chavy - Les Folateres - lemon and apricot fruits, great finish - well made
2013 Coche Dury Meursault - Great minerality - and what Marc said, stellar wine
2012 Wilmart Blanc de blanc - refreshing and great
2018 Il Marroneto - BdM - decent wine - not my style
1993 Jadot Bonne Mares - amazing wine
1986 LMHB - muted nose but opulent
1986 Ridge Monte Bello - peppery nose and well balanced - stunning
1986 Laflour - no notes
1986 Margaux - no notes
2006 Dominus - cigar box and black fruits. fantastic
1997 Pegau - CdP
1961 Volnay Hospice de Beaune
2021 PYC Saint Aubin - fresh and pure - melon like fruit - great wine

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I’ve been able to score incredible deals at Zachy’s auctions, to the disappointment of the consignor, clearly. With zero evidence to back this up, I’ve empirically observed that Zachy’s auctions have far less bidders than other auctions. This will likely change, but for now it’s nice to be the one bidding.

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I’ve definitely seen softness - and gotten a few good deals - at Zachy’s, HDH, K&L and Winebid the last few months. My entirely SWAG theory is that the big drivers of less bidding are the down stock market and overall economic uncertainty. The tariff saga might even have helped out with US importers going long early and stuffing the channel with extra supply. Unnecessarily, it turns out.

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I would guess the negativity in the markets has much more impact on auctions than tarifffs would ever have. Some of my best buys have been in times of market turmoil like in 2008 and 2020.

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That was the sense I got. The room was noisy, but there didn’t seem much interest in the auction itself.

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I was putting together some stuff to send to auction but this has me rethinking. It’s a small lot of mostly thinly traded Burgundy, Piedmont, and Champagne. I’m assuming you were selling Bordeaux (that may be incorrect) but did you notice how other segments did? I found HDH a few weeks back to be pretty soft as well so maybe now is not the time to send them off.

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I can’t talk about Italian, as I wasn’t really watching, but Burgundy was not strong.

Bordeaux was ok, but stuck at the low estimate

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Very Aligned with Mark and Mike’s notes. Some add ons.

Mark’s 1986 Ridge Monte Bello was my winner across everything. Incredible. From nose, I had no doubt I was in BDX. Flavor and texture gace some hints, but still would have very confidently guessed bdx. Beautiful wine.

2018 Il Marroneto - surprised how complex this was given the youth

1986 Margaux - Surprised how muted this was. Low level TCA?

2006 Dominus - Powerful, but not a brute. Impressively complex. Yum.

2013 Domaine Alain Chavy Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières - Clear with yellow tint. Apricot and little honey suckle. Mouth is so tropical and ripely orchard. Ripe attack. Long finish.

1970 Château Lynch-Bages - Beautiful nose floral and saddle and crushed leaves. Lifted and full of life.

2021 Tenuta Greppo (Biondi-Santi) Brunello di Montalcino - Easy and likable. No great complexity. Plenty of time in front of it though.

Perfectly said :slight_smile: Folks loved it, but my mind stayed pretty heavily on the Ridge.

My first live auction (thanks for the invite, Mark!). Zachy’s folks were nice and what they opened was generous. Wait staff were overwhelmed and service was slow and disorganized. Seemed like most bidding action was online. Loud room and on the back half, folks were more interested in bottle sharing and socializing than tracking every lot. Some great deals, the 1998 Rare lot comes to mind, but from seller’s side rougher going.

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Biondi would have been the Rosso?

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@Mark_Golodetz any particular reason you consigned with Zachys over other big auction houses?

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Thanks, Mark.

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I actually had a deal to sell privately that fell through. I was at a concert when I got an e mail saying that they were pulling out.

So I looked at auctions. Zachys was convenient, and I have known Charles Antin , lead auctioneer, for 20 plus years.