The sales tax at auction, plus relatively recent increases in buyer’s premium and expected shipping cost, are definitely factored into my calculus and have made me a little trigger shy compared to even a couple years ago.
I think that auctions still offer some savings compared to current retail, but because current retail has gone up so fast people feel instinctively that they are not getting a bargain. When I looked up the prices for some of the wines Rob Weaver posted above (see post #2), the 2003 Poyferre, 2009 Lalande, and 2014 Montrose were all 20-25% off the Winesearcher lows, and the Boillot Mouchere was 35% off. But they weren’t lower than what the same wines would have been going for 6 to 9 months ago. Peoples’ perceptions have not yet caught up with the dizzying price increase we’re seeing in wines of all types right now.
Maybe we should have another thread about why fine wine prices in general are zooming. The increase seems quite wide spread and not just at the ultra-high end, there are a lot of $100-150 wines that now are going to $200-$300
That is a pretty good deal, equivalent of $83/bottle for a solid grand cru from a great year, which by today’s standards is fantastic. But for some reason Corton has been somewhat resistant to the inflation trend for other grand crus.
A topic for another thread, perhaps, but I have had great bottles of Corton and find it often better than some other, similarly burly GC like Bonnes Mares. And it’s a bargain, and it’s maybe even less of a crapshoot than Clos Vougeot and a less expensive crapshoot than Echezeaux…
As someone may have mentioned above, these days it’s really hard to casually keep track of “market” pricing of trendy, highly allocated wines – particularly in Burgundy and N. Rhone (and sort of Piedmont and Champagne). With wines like Raveneau, Allemand, Cathiard, Rayas etc. it can be challenging (at least for me) to know on a day-to-day basis whether you’re getting a steal or getting ripped off. I feel like I used to have a pretty good intuitive sense of what these wines were selling for. But now you blink and the price has gone up 30%. This dynamic environment also makes it possible to occasionally find real steals where retailers or auctioneers (more often retailers) haven’t quite caught up to the market.
Agree with you about Corton but they usually need a lot of time in a bottle to be ready in most vintages. 2010’s are drinking well now due to berries not having seeds.
K&L actually has a useful tool that shows historical auction prices of wines on their site:
https://www.klwines.com/Auction/Information/AuctionPastLotsList.aspx
Obviously, there’s going to be variance and some people will get better deals than others. But you can see (for example) Allemand Reynard used to go for $107-$126 / bottle in 2015-2016, and has been going for $175-200+ / bottle in 2018-2019. That’s for a low supply wine.
For a high supply wine like '01 Yquem… back in 2011-2014, it was going for $350-400 per 375ml, and the market has softened in 2018… with the average bottle going for $275-315 per.
I was on duty during the day, so only peeked in a couple of times for the early session when I wanted to bid, but saw a couple of good stretches as it went into the evening. I cannot speak to many specifics, but the times I was watching only one lot went unsold, many went within estimate range (low estimate is usually 1-2 increments above reserve) and a few things went above estimate.
Things moved very fast- and I did not have a fun time trying to keep up online. Only had one win- most here would not call it a bargain, but given where prices are headed I was very happy about it.
I did not notice any particular weakness, but the sheer volume of Screaming Eagle was something I watched because there is a ton of the stuff being sold lately. $6,000 was the magic number today for most 3 packs- that is where the 2016 held, and even some older vintages. A 2007 case went at $9K while 06 and 08 and 09 went for $6K , and 2015 did $6,500 a couple of times. One lucky buyer got a box of 2016 for $5k. Given the fact there were 34 lots of Eagle, with 13 of them cases of 2016, pricing held up pretty well.
Interest and results seemed pretty strong across the board to me- with some extra love for magnums. Big bottles tended to do well today.
I’ve found https://www.winemarketjournal.com to be an invaluable resource. It’s a bit pricey at $200, but it’s a pretty useful tool in terms of identifying potential deals, trends etc. If you’re an active buyer or seller I highly recommend it.
Prices at auction are nuts, but I feel like we’ve been saying that since forever.
I think it all depends on what you’re looking for from auction. There are still some great deals out there…if you’re patient and willing to buy “relatively unknown wines”. Let’s say you don’t know if you like aged wines or not. There are some great little finds for under $50 on wined.com if you’re willing to look, and try some unknown wines. Half-bottles of Gevrey Chambertin for $15…sure, I’ll take a gamble on that. Aged Barbaresco for under $50; what a great way to see if you like old Barbaresco. These are just a few I’ve seen in the last 30 minutes of browsing.
750ml
1999 Castello di Bossi Girolamo ($25) - 100% Merlot (Tuscany)
2010 Podere Brizio Brunello di Montalcino Riserva ($40)
2000 Fontanabianca Barbaresco Sori Burdin ($45)
N.V. Louis Barthelemy Brut Rosé Rubis ($25)
N.V. Guiborat Fils Brut Chardonnay Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Pur Prisme ($31)
1986 Vignerons Catalans Rivesaltes Ambre Haute Coutume ($25 - for a 20+ year old Rivesaltes)
2016 Domaine Gerard Boulay Sancerre La Cote Blanc ($26)
2005 Louis Jadot Nuits St. Georges ($30)
2000 Château Les Ormes-de-Pez ($35)
2002 Torii Mor Olson Vineyard Pinot Noir ($16 - I’ll gamble on that)
2009 Evesham Wood Pinot Noir ($20)
2017 Bedrock Wine Company California Old Vine Zinfandel ($21)
2013 Bedrock Wine Company Gibson Ranch Heritage ($25)
2010 J K Carriere Wines Vespidae Pinot Noir ($32)
2005 Patricia Green Ribbon Ridge Estate Old Vine Pinot Noir ($40 - the 2005’s from PGC that I’ve had in the last year are drinking beautifully now)
1999 Ken Wright Arcus Vineyard Pinot Noir ($50)
375ml
2014 Frederic Esmonin Gevrey-Chambertin Les Jouises Vieilles Vignes ($15)
2015 Domaine Tempier Bandol ($22)
Jordan, do you (or anyone here) know how to see the hammer prices at that auction?
They’ll eventually be posted on Acker’s auction archives section of their website, but they aren’t always so quick in getting the info posted.
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they’re a few months behind
Thanks guys!
Yes, I have been fascinated watching Screaming EAgle and finding practically every single lot on WINEBID does not have 1 Bid.
And I find myself wondering if the sellers were aware of the increase of the tax added and how that will affect the price and potential buyers.
WINEBID appears that they are not prepared to budge in reducing the RESERVE. That fascinates me - that they simply assume the market will absorb the 10% on the buyers side?
Check out the WINEBID S.E. list, I believe 1 Lot has a bid.
Doesn’t wine bid also take ~20 percent out of seller proceeds? That’s what they quoted me (roughly). If I gave them a 80 bottle I would get 64 and the buyer would pay 100 or so, only slightly less than retail price for that particular bottle. The only winner there would be winebid.
Found some 2007 Boxler GC Pinot Gris Brand for $25 /btl after taxes, fees, and shipping. This was on Spectrum a few months ago and first time bidding.
Wine Market Journal will have the Acker prices posted well before Acker.
If you do have access - has DRC pricing gone a bit soft?