Bidding And Buying
At Wine Auctions

An excellent way to find and buy older and hard-to-get wines is at wine auctions (no, not E-Bay). These wines usually come from collectors, investors, and estates who have held the wine for quite a while and now wish to sell it.

Sometimes, you can get a real treat if they offer a tasting of some of those wines. It’s not every day you can taste wine 50 years old.

Wines here are usually sold in “lots”. They can be a group of three, six, or twelve bottles of wine. When you register, you will receive a registration number and a paddle for bidding. The wine available will come up on a screen with a minimum bid for the lot. The auctioneer will start the bidding and you raise your paddle to bid. There may also be remote online bidding. The auctioneer will announce those bids as they come up.

Auctions are not for the faint of heart but here are some tips and suggestions to help you out:

• Don’t fan yourself with the paddle while they are bidding on a $10,000 case of wine!
• Know what the lot size is. Don’t think you’re getting a case when you are really getting only three bottles.
• You can purchase mixed lots.
• Like most auctions, wine auctions are fast paced so have a solid idea of what you want to do and how to do it.

• Have a max purchase price in mind and stick with it. Don’t get caught up in a bidding war.

• Have a solid idea of what the wine is worth based on varietal, vintage, region, etc. Do your homework before bidding. Lists of the wines for auction are available from the auction house.
• Try not to buy blind. Know if you will like the wine before buying. The exception is if you’re buying for investment purposes. Then make absolutely sure that you are buying at a discount and can recoup the investment.
• If possible, find out how the wine was stored. Not knowing this is the main drawback of wine auctions.
• Inspect the bottles if you can. Is there is too much ullage (space between the cork and the wine)? More than an inch indicates excessive evaporation which may have been caused by heat. Is the top of bottle sticky? It may have leaked.
• What color is the wine? A white wine that is dull and dark or a red wine that is not red anymore but brown is probably too old. I have tasted some of these. They’re disappointing.
• Careful if the price is too low. Remember that you get what you pay for.
• Stick with reputable auction houses. They will know the history of the wine and about the source of the wine.
• Stick with well known wines with a good reputation for aging.
• Attend some wine auctions without buying anything to see how the process works.
• Remember that the auctioneers will take a 10% - 15% cut.
• Remember that you will also be paying taxes and shipping charges. So…
• Have plenty of funds available.

In other words, make sure that you know what you are doing.

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