Be careful . It is illegal to bring wine into the US without declaring.
This may be an unpopular advice, but I say put all the bottles in a fridge (horizontally) if possible. Better at 45 degrees for the short term than risk any high temps. Bordeaux in the fridge for a few weeks or even months should be fine. Good luck with the sale.
I am sorry about your family member passing.
Where is the wine fridge and can you get it and put the wines back in there?
I agree. Wine fridge is better but regular fridge will prevent any potential heat degradation.
so much great information here. I may just bring them over to a friends house who has a couples fridges and keep them there for the mean time.
So everyone is aware yes my location is Ontario just North of Toronto. This is the dilemma I am facing.
Regarding getting post count up here and offering them here how does that work? thanks for al the help my new friends and the warm welcome.
Does anyone have a suggestion on what the lot should be worth? I see what wine searcher says but I am wondering if that is reality
Is reality, unlike wine collecting in general.
really? it’s 8 hours driving to NY, or a 1.5 hr flight actually…
You should remember that Wine Searcher shows you the lowest price available at which no one has been willing to buy the wine to date. Which is not to say that it won’t eventually sell at that price, it probably will. But it might take time. It’s certainly a good basis.
In addition to Wine-Searcher as Jay mentions above, I really like the Wine Market Journal. It is a great tool for wine valuations as they maintain the most complete and comprehensive database of wine auction prices. They also offer a free 2 day trial so I would certainly tell you to take advantage of this as with more real data points at your disposal; you should be able to form a better determination of the lots worth.
Waddington’s is approved by the LCBO to auction wine. That would be the easiest route, although I’m not sure what kind of prices they realize so you should contact a US wine auction house and see if they would be able to assist you in getting the wines to them.
For your valuation needs, take JC’s advice or use Acker Merrall’s auction archives to see their current results for your wines. The archives are free to use.
I had just typed a longer reply, and now I see what Ray posted. You should just take his advice.
Marshall, I’m in Ontario and have collected for 25 years. The Waddington’s site has realized prices from past auctions too, and the search function works, so you should easily be able to see Toronto (some may be Hong Kong) hammer prices.
As mentioned, you have cherries and mostly due to our monopoly and lack of any sort of older vintage availability, I highly doubt you’d get a better price in the U.S. (not considering the dollar). Brdx gets premium prices here.
I do know HDH does take Cdn collections, which can be effective for wines that may do better in a free market (some burgs, rhones, champagne) than here, but is perhaps best for larger cellars vs. a case.
Iron Gate in Toronto now has a consignment program that reaches out to buyers beyond our borders, so may be worth looking into that as well, as it may be the perfect solution in your situation.
Good luck.
Appreciate all the insight. One conclusion I have is Canada is not the best place to sell wine
Look at the Acker archives as Ray suggested. That is where I was going to point you and offer search tips if they would help. The reported numbers are full hammer including buyer’s premium. Knock 30% off that, and that is the low end of what you should expect to receive from a broker. I use that barometer since that is generally what you might net at auction yourself as the seller assuming a modest seller commission.
Things are at a fever pitch right now for high end wine- it is a very good time to sell and a broker who has customers for your wines will help you do what it takes to get them in hand. It is small parcel, but an incredibly valuable one and 100% blue chip. Dream come true for brokers.
Thanks man I got hammer prices due to everyone. Now to find a good broker.
Happy to assist (Iron Gate) if you are still looking. We either sell wholesale to HK or through our retail facility in NY.