Wine Auctions Ripe for Buyers

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Apr 23rd 2009 at 6:02PM

wine bottles One client is putting up a third of the take at the Christie's wine auction this weekend. A total of 613 lots are available, with one party accounting for than 200 of them. This seller is described only as a "wealthy New York family" (duh). For collectors, according to the auction house's spin, this is a great time to buy. Prices are falling, which means that there are plenty of bargains out there.

Apparently, there's some wisdom to this perspective. At the Sotheby's auction last weekend, bidders dropped more than $2.9 million on vino, thrashing a pre-auction estimate of only $1.8 million to $2.6 million. New buyers are coming into the market. At the Sotheby's auction, more than 20 percent of the bidders were new. Two weeks before that, Hart Davis Hart, of Chicago, moved nearly $2.7 million of liquid bliss, beating its presale mark of $2.4 million.

In a Reuters interview, wine consultant Judy Beardsall likens wine collecting and investing to gardening, "At a time like this, it's a chance to turn over the soil in the garden, put down some stock for the next generation."

But, if you aren't interested in waiting, all the wines put up for auction are fit for consumption ... for a price.

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