Heritage Auction - Familiar Cellar Name

[Jason_L_Jones]

I was able to pick up a few lots of 1990-2001 Bordeaux, and was outbid on some others because I wasn’t in front of my computer on Saturday. It took me a good long while to prioritize my bidding given the quantity of excellent lots. Heritage is not in my usual rotation, so thanks to the OP for bringing attention to this.

[David_Glasser]

How profitable are these auction houses? Presumably they pay for shipping to their auction center and inspect wines. They then guarantee a low selling price and take a vig off the seller. And then charge 20% from the buyer, can charge expensive shipping (at times) and now have to charge tax. They do not have auctions every day, so have fixed costs over the year, which I imagine is problematic (absorbing the overhead). No axe to grind here… just wondering… I always thought StubHub would see more competition given the fees they charge, and these auction houses do have competition (so many auction houses vs. just one stub hub) yet fees haven’t come down.

I have no idea what their P&Ls look like. I do know that shipping and seller’s commission are negotiable. Resources devoted to inspection seem variable from house to house. Some do have online wine auctions running frequently, and some auction more than wine.

[Mark_Golodetz]

Mark, I looked at the list of unsold wines and saw a lot of older wines. I was hesitant to buy because of stated condition. I am very conservative and look for old wines with fills in the base neck. Also, I did not see any photos. Maybe I just did not look in the right place. I found the website very confusing.

A lot of the wines came from the Uk and Europe, particularly Belgium, and frankly I would be very suspicious if wines from the fifties or before were into the neck. I have had wines from the cellars before, and I totally trust the vendor. There was one major exception, some 1929 La Mission that came from Doris Duke.

I have actually asked Heritage to remove at least temporarily those older wines, as I expected them to go at mid estimate or better, and I really do not want to sell them at the reserve which happens in the post auction sales.

[Ian_Dorin]

I’m a regular Heritage customer - not just for wine - and I don’t find the site any more difficult to navigate than any other auction site. For the wine auctions, I do find it puzzling that they don’t post photos. I expect that’s a dealbreaker for many potential bidders.

FWIW I didn’t bid on this auction.

I don’t think posting photos is the norm. I also don’t think it matters to most people otherwise auction houses would not be doing so hot as most don’t put up photos

The amount of work and time that it would take to photograph every bottle that goes in to a sale would be daunting. You can’t use stock photography. Imagine having to open every OWC and professionally photographing it? You are talking thousands of bottles.

[Andrew_A_r_n_t_f_i_e_l_d]

I’m a regular Heritage customer - not just for wine - and I don’t find the site any more difficult to navigate than any other auction site. For the wine auctions, I do find it puzzling that they don’t post photos. I expect that’s a dealbreaker for many potential bidders.

FWIW I didn’t bid on this auction.

I don’t think posting photos is the norm. I also don’t think it matters to most people otherwise auction houses would not be doing so hot as most don’t put up photos

The amount of work and time that it would take to photograph every bottle that goes in to a sale would be daunting. You can’t use stock photography. Imagine having to open every OWC and professionally photographing it? You are talking thousands of bottles.

I disagree, Ian. Heritage is a huge auction house with regular auctions in memorabilia, coins, comics / comic art, geological artifacts, jewelry, watches, automobiles, real estate… and they photograph all of the lots in all of their other auctions. We’re talking thousands and thousands of items every week. I can’t see how photographing wine bottles would be any more onerous than photographing all those other items. I’ve consigned things to their auctions (not wine) and I know that they have a department that’s dedicated specifically to photography.

As for other houses and photography, off the top of my head Spectrum, Leland Little, Winebid, and K&L auctions all have photography of their wines.

[A_Rubin_Stein]

It was tough, I was expecting a little more. Not a great week for wine auctions, sale at the other houses were also little lackluster.

Mark, your auction faced direct competition from Zachys and Hart Davis, on the same weekend. And Zachys is having another live auction next week. There is a lot of supply out there. I was at the Zachys auction on Friday. There, and at your auction, there were some good opportunities for buyers. It’s a lot different than a couple of years ago, when auction sales were at highs. The recession speculation doesn’t help, either.

[M_Meer]

I’ve consigned things to their auctions (not wine) and I know that they have a department that’s dedicated specifically to photography.

Perhaps it’s logistical. The wines are stored in a separate climate control facility, at least in CA.

[ToddFrench]

How about some of them on Commerce Corner!?

[Nathan_V]

How about some of them on Commerce Corner!?

Because dealing with shipping as an individual is problematic and then dealing with purchaser can be problematic. That’s why I don’t.

I tried to post a link to the Leland Little auction where I had submitted about 4 cases of wine. I though that people would be interested in purchasing Rougeard that came from my cellar since it has impeccable provenance (including receipts) but I guess that is against the rules.

[Nathan_V]

It was tough, I was expecting a little more. Not a great week for wine auctions, sale at the other houses were also little lackluster. But pretty well all sold, except for some reason the older wines did not. So happy to bring them home. And thank you all for bidding.

Mark, I had a few wines in the Leland Little auction on Thursday and it didn’t do as well as I had hoped. For any wine that was on Wine-Searcher it went below the W-S low. I think part of that is that what I submitted are thinly traded wines like Clos Rougeard and (to a lesser extent) Mugneret-Gibourg. This was sort of a trial balloon to see if the W-S prices were real market clearing prices.

I followed the HDH auction and found the results softening as well. It may be that we’ve reached the peak for this bubble cycle, but the bubble for some wines is incredibly high.

Maybe somewhat related, I’m getting bigger allocations on high-end Burgundy because other accounts are passing on them.

[Mike_Evans]

The amount of work and time that it would take to photograph every bottle that goes in to a sale would be daunting. You can’t use stock photography. Imagine having to open every OWC and professionally photographing it? You are talking thousands of bottles.

When I first started following Heritage, the monthly wine auctions included photos of each lot. It was quite nice with the whites as they were back lit so you could get a good sense of color differences.

[Mike_Evans]

I ended up with 9 of Mark’s lots and two other lots. I spent more in total than I intended but I filled some holes in my cellar and managed to resist the temptation to chase a few lots past the limits I’d set for them so I’m happy.

[Mark_Golodetz]

How about some of them on Commerce Corner!?

Will do. Some German wines and a couple of Barolos. Probably take a couple of weeks.

[Victor_Hong]

How about some of them on Commerce Corner!?

Will do. Some German wines and a couple of Barolos. Probably take a couple of weeks.

When Heritage e-mailed a pre-auction apology for incontinence, it may have been prescient.

[Mark_Golodetz]

No, Heritage did a fine job. I am disappointed, but there were plenty of external reasons for the results, and I don’t think Heritage could have done much more.

[Victor_Hong]

I meant only the market, not the auction house.

[Brent_S]

I attended the auction at the Beverly Location. Of the 10 or so items I bid on, I was outbid (online) by maybe 6 of them and I landed 4.

I ended up with the 2006 Ponsot Clos de la roche (which was a deal) but also got the 2007 Fourrier Clos st Jacques which I overpaid for and the 2008 which was still expensive

[Dan_Hammer]

How about some of them on Commerce Corner!?

This is a good idea for locals. I would love to enhance my California wines with a few better ones from a trusted source. Then maybe Mark would be able to enjoy something from my cellar.

dh

[Tmason]

My experience with older bottles has been mixed enough that I am not going to buy a '59 Margaux without a photo. I don’t really plug into the vhs, ts, etc. descriptions. Others may. Just how I approach auctions. (And I have seen older bottles with fills into the neck although nowadays that would raise questions about authenticity.)

[Tmason]

And Mark, I think you did well off the lot that I did get. #204. Rare stuff that I thought I would never see again so I took a chance.