WineAuction

Premiere Napa Valley Results Up

Earlier this month I mentioned that the returns on the Naples Wine Auction were up by around $3 million. More good news in the wine auction world comes from Napa where the Premiere Napa Valley results were up by one third over last year. The 14th annual Premiere Napa Valley auction brought in a total of $1.918 million which was 30 percent more than the previous year. The 2009 auction brought in $1.485 million which was far down from 2008's record-setting total of $2.2455 million.

The 200-lot event took place last weekend and saw a more positive tone than last year's event with bidders snapping up cases of the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon. Five cases of Shafer went to Winebid.com for $37,000. Another five case allotment from Ovid went to Capitol Cellars for $33,000 and Lewis Cellars sold five cases to Nakagawa Trading Company of Japan for $30,000. Nakagawa Trading for the second-to-the-top bidder spending $179,000 total on wines. Top honors went to Gary Fisch of Gary's Wine in New Jersey who spent $392,000 on 275 cases.

Tags: napa valley, napa valley wine, NapaValley, NapaValleyWine, ovid, premiere napa valley, PremiereNapaValley, shafer, ShaferVineyards, wine auction, WineAuction

Naples Wine Auction Numbers Back Up

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine, Auctions, Charity, Big Givers

Last year the results of the Naples Winter Wine Festival in Florida showed an economy where even the wealthiest patrons were slow to open their wallets. The results of this year's auction are a little more uplifting. The Naples News reports that the Naples Winter Wine Festival at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort at Tiburon in North Naples raised a preliminary total of $8.06 million for children's charities in Collier County. That's around $3 million more than last year's total and the overall mood appears to have been far brighter with reports of an energetic room and even a few bidding wars. It's not as high as the previous years when $14 and nearly $16 million results were seen but it is a step in the right direction.

Many lots sold for over six figures including a four-day trip to Manhattan for two couples with the best seats in the best restaurants, Yankee Stadium and live tapings of television shows which went for $170,000. A 14-night voyage aboard The World for two couples sold for $160,000. Two couples will be hosted by jewelry company Chopard at the Cannes Film festival in a lot that sold for $160,000. A ten-day South African odyssey for two couples through the country's premier wine regions and landscapes sold for $340,000. One woman paid $130,000 for a lot that is topped by a dinner with Robert Redford. A lot that featured a Michael Kors makeover and a trip to the Project Runway finale fetched $150,000.

And of course there were many large wine auction lots including a 2003 Chateau Lynch-Bages presented in a rare double magnum and two nights for two couples at Cordeillan-Bages in Pauillac, France that sold for $170,000. A lot of 30 wines from Burgundy sold for $100,000. And someone really likes the monster bottles, a lot that included four mammoth 9-liter Salmanazars, one each of 2005 Chateau Haut-Brion, 2005 Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion and two 9-liter bottles of the 2009 vintage sold for $150,000.

Tags: naples wine festival, naples winter wine festival, NaplesWineFestival, NaplesWinterWineFestival, wine auction, wine auctions, WineAuction, WineAuctions

Bid On Napa Wine Fantasy Lots

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine, Auctions, Charity

What's your wine fantasy? A lost weekend at a Napa Valley estate with a bunch of close friends? How about spending the day with one of Napa's most celebrated winemakers? These are just two of the lots being offered in advance of Forever Young, The Young School's eleventh annual benefit fundraiser,being held February 6 at Quintessa in Rutherford, California. The evening will include silent and live auctions but some lots are being offered ahead of time www.biddingforgood.com/auction/item/Browse.action

My favorite includes the chance to spend the day with vintner Ehren Jordan, winemaker both of French–style Pinot Noirs and Syrahs from Failla Wines and Zinfandels and Petit Syrahs from Turley Wine Cellars. His typical whirlwind day includes shuttling between Turley and Failla, a commute done via the cockpit of his Cessna 340. You can sit in the co-pilot's seat and get a winemaker's-eye-view of the vineyards, then land and take a walk through the rows. The experience includes a blending session, which will create five cases and one magnum of your own unique wine. This lot has an opening bid of $5,000.

Another lot is called the Bottle Shock Experience and whisks nine couples away for three nights (1/28/2010- 1/31/2010) at a Napa Valley estate where the grounds include a spa, pool, bocce court, gym and more. They stay is highlighted by a private screening at the estate's high-definition theater of the movie Bottle Shock with the movie's producers Marc & Brenda Lhormer, followed by a "Judgment of Paris"-style tasting of California Chardonnays and Cabernets 'versus' French Burgundies and Bordeaux, similar to the one in the film. Bidding starts at $9,000 for this lot.

Tags: napa valley, NapaValley, the young school, TheYoungSchool, wine, wine auction, WineAuction

Aubrey McClendon Puts His Big Bottles On The Block

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine, Auctions

Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon may have sold off wine at an auction earlier this year but he still has cases and cases to go. The Wealth Report draws our attention to the "The Aubrey McClendon Collection" sale scheduled for November 21 at The St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort in Dana Point, California. Spectrum Wine Auctions will be simulcasting the sale in Hong Kong, which appears to be where the big spenders on vintage wine are these days. The sale will feature more than 3,000 bottles and may bring in as much as $3 million.

The auction website includes a video interview of McClendon conducted by Mario Sculatti, director of sales and consignments for Spectrum Wine Auctions. McClendon has signed an Imperial of 1990 Lafite Rothschild that will be offered during the auction with commissions earned to be donated to charity on behalf of McClendon and Spectrum Wine Auctions.

McClendon's collection spans a range of the most collectible wines. Particularly prized are two bottles of 1945 Chateau Latour. McClendon also collected large format bottles. The auction offers several six-liter Imperials (the equivalent of eight standard bottles) including a 1982 Cheval Blanc in the original wood case, a 1989 Haut Brion and several vintages from Chateau Mouton Rothschild. McClendon's wine philosophy is simple: "Like anything in life, if you're going to enjoy something you really ought to try to enjoy, I think, the best of the particular pleasure that you're seeking, and so I would encourage people to go after the best wines."

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Tags: aubrey mcclendon, AubreyMcclendon, chateau latour, chateau mouton rothschild, ChateauLatour, ChateauMoutonRothschild, imperial wine bottle, ImperialWineBottle, spectrum wine auction, SpectrumWineAuction, wine, wine auction, WineAuction

La Tour D'Argent Wines Up For Sale

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine, Auctions

An AP story doesn't make it sound too appetizing (old wine bottles covered in black fungus anyone?) but the upcoming auction of wine bottles from the Tour d'Argent restaurant in Paris, France has oenophiles very excited. The restaurant, a landmark that traces its history all the way back to 1582, has a 450,000-bottle cellar and is selling 18,000 bottles at an auction in December. The auction through French auctioneer Piasa will include everything from modest 10-euro bottles of wine to those fungus-covered bottles of 1875 Armagnac Vieux (estimated at 400-500 euros) and other notable oldies.

The restaurant is paring down on its bottles and wants to modernize. Some of the usual suspects at fine wine auctions including vintages from Chateau Lafite Rothschild, Cheval Blanc and Chateau Margaux will also be up for sale and the grand total is expected to be over one million euros. The provenance of the bottles may also be a selling factor not just because the integrity of the bottles, which were bought directly from vinters, can be assured but also because the bottles bear the restaurant's insignia, the famous tower.

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Tags: cheval blanc, ChevalBlanc, fine wine, FineWine, tour dargent, TourDargent, wine, wine auction, WineAuction

Record Set at Hong Kong Wine Auction

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits, Auctions, Art

chateau petrus Art and dinosaurs may not be moving at auction, but in a tough market, you can count on people drinking. Sotheby's nearly sold out its entire auction in Hong Kong Saturday, raking in HK$61.5 million (US$7.9 million) from 1,010 lots offered. Only five lots failed to find a home at the auction – and they were later sold privately. The result obliterated the presale estimate of HK$47.8 million.

Much of the action came because prices were relatively low, but there was plenty of room for upward movement. A 6-liter bottle of Chateau Petrus 1982 sold for HK$726,000 (US$94,000), setting a record. The buyer opted to remain anonymous.

A mere 1 percent of the lots went to buyers who were not Asian. Mainland Chinese were responsible for most of the buying, followed by bidders from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.

Hong Kong has carved out a place for itself at the top of the international wine auction market and is now providing competition to New York and London. Sotheby's and Christie's have been holding auctions in Hong Kong since February 2008, when the government nixed duties on wine.

The wine auction kicked off a week of gavel-pounding for Sotheby's, preceding a five-day auction of art and gems consisting of 2,300 lots. The estimate for the festivities is HK$780 million.

Tags: chateau petrus, ChateauPetrus, hong kong, HongKong, sothebys, wine, wine auction, WineAuction

What are wine futures?

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

wine bottle Wine futures, also referred to as "en primeur", is the term that describes an investment made in wine before it is bottled. Usually, the investment is in a "pre-arrival", which is the first release of certain vintages. Wine futures are similar to an investment made in the futures market. Simply put, it is a bet that the expected future price will increase. Some wine futures, usually those that are highly sought-after premium wines, enter the secondary market. Upon investing in a wine future, the initial release price is usually at its lowest point. An investor can potentially reap a sizeable profit if the investment was made in a wine future that turns out to be an excellent vintage with tremendous demand. Of course, there's an element of risk to investing in wines. An investment in a wine future can turn out to be poor if there's little demand for the wine when it enters the retail market. Be sure to compare prices and only deal with an established and reputable retailer or importer before making an investment.

Tags: luxist-awards, main-pedia, wine, wine auction, wine-pedia, WineAuction

Billionaire Auctions Wine For A Good Cause

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine, Auctions, Charity

At an upcoming Sotheby's auction you can indulge your love of French wine and your passion for doing good. The Sotheby's London auction on September 23 will include selections from the copious cellar of Belgian billionaire Albert Frere. Frere is auctioning off his prized vintages to benefit the Charles-Albert Frere Foundation, a charity set up to support children and disadvantaged adults. It is named after Frere's son who died in a car crash 10 years ago.

Frere often buys his wine directly from the chateaux and has it sent directly to his private cellar so it is in peak condition. This is the third in a series of wine auctions of Frere's collection. Highlights of this auction feature vintages from 1985 to 2005 with offerings from Petrus, Haut Brion, Marguax and La Tour. Shown at right is the Carre d'As 2000 Groupe Duclot lot which features two magnums of Latour, two magnums of Margaux, two magnums of Haut Brion and two magnums of Petrus all presented in an octagonal wooden presentation case, wrapped in a plain protective cardboard outer. The name translates as four aces. It is estimated at $16000-21000.

Tags: french wine, FrenchWine, petrus, sothebys, wine, wine auction, WineAuction

Skip the Auction Houses, Take Wine Online

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

Vinfolio Marketplace is set to go live on July 1, 2009, solving a problem with which many wine collectors struggle. This online platform was designed to make it easier for collectors to put their bottles up for sale, creating a more fluid marketplace for this, um, fluid. Founder Aaron DeMello believes it could become the world's primary spot market for wine.

Currently, the wine sales platform has a virtual inventory – thanks to participants – of nearly 12 million bottles, with a value of approximately $2 billion. Most participants are located in North America. The market inventory will be supplied by more than 53,000 private wine cellars.

DeMello's goal is to create a place where buyers and sellers can come together easily to complete their transactions. The ancillary effect, of course, would be the real-time valuation of different wines, as you see in securities and commodities markets.

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Tags: wine, wine auction, wine sale, wine sales, WineAuction, wines, WineSale, WineSales

Recession Bites The Auction Napa Valley

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine, Auctions, Charity

The Santa Rosa Democrat reports from the Auction Napa Valley wine auction this weekend and reveals that the news isn't good. As expected the recession took a chunk out of the charity giving for this annual event. The big live auction event on Saturday night only brought in $4.3 million, less than half of the $10.4 million raised last year, a result that is similar to the Naples auction earlier this year. During the four-day event, Napa Valley Vintners raised $5.7 million for a variety of local charities.

The Santa Rosa Democrat article quotes several bidders who said that they were bidding more conservatively because they had either lost money in the past year or had serious concerns about their ongoing financial health. Bids were also lower because competition was less intense and some may have been concerned about appearing too showy. All of the Auction Napa Valley events were sold out, indicating that people still have interest in this event. Even though they did't spend like they did last year and it sounds like a good time was still had by all.

The Napa Valley Vintners pledged back in 2007 that for the next five years the the auction would distribute a minimum of $5 million a year to the charities including Community Health Clinic Ole, Boys & Girls Clubs and Napa Valley Community Housing.

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Tags: auction napa valley, AuctionNapaValley, charity, napa valley, NapaValley, wine, wine auction, WineAuction

Auction Napa Valley Goes On Without Celebrity Host

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine, Auctions

This year's Auction Napa Valley takes place this weekend and some are wondering what effect the recession will have on the lavish affair. After all, this year's Naples Winter Wine Auction in Naples, Florida over the winter brought in just over $5 million compared around $14 million last year. The 29th annual Auction Napa Valley takes place on the lawn at the beautiful Meadowood Napa Valley and features the usual assortment of fine barrel lots, travel adventures and winemaker dinners but one thing missing will be the celebrity auctioneer. Last year Jay Leno did the duty as host and past emcees included Ryan Seacrest and Dana Carvey. Instead, the Santa Rosa Democrat reports that the event will be "loosely emceed" by wine educator Kevin Zraly.

Auction Napa Valley benefits local health, children's and housing organizations, including Community Health Clinic Ole, Boys & Girls Clubs and Napa Valley Community Housing. Last year it brought in $10.4 million but likely won't hit a number quite that high this year as most people have cut back on both their philanthropy and their pleasure spending.

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Tags: auction napa valley, AuctionNapaValley, napa valley, NapaValley, wine auction, WineAuction

Chateau Cheval Blanc To Auction Off Rare Vintages

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

France's esteemed Chateau Cheval Blanc is auctioning off rare vintages right from the cellar through Sotheby's next month. On June 17 at Sotheby's London, collectors can get their hands on over 1,000 bottles from nearly a century of vintages including the 1921, 1928, 1947 and 1949 being sold by the chateau. Each comes in an original wooden case. Older vintages (1900 to 1976 )were recently re-labelled and re-capsuled at Cheval Blanc. Some of the older bottles have been recorked and sometimes topped up with a wine of the same vintage over the past few decades. Serena Sutcliffe MW, International Head of Wine at Sotheby's, is quoted in the press release as sayiing: "We are honoured to be offering this unique collection of Cheval Blanc that has never before left the cellars at the Château. Cheval Blanc is a wine like no other. It has opulence, finesse and enormous originality."

The various lots includes a number of verticals including one of over 30 bottles covering 60 years from 1905
that is estimated at £15,000 – 20,000. Château Cheval Blanc dates from 1832 when the first part of what is now the Cheval Blanc estate was acquired from the Figeac estate. The won medals in the London and Paris International Exhibitions in 1862 and 1867 that are still displayed on the labels today. Château Cheval Blanc is one of only two St Emilion Châteaux to be awarded the top Class A classification. No matter what the economy may be doing, I suspect wine collectors will be coming out of the woodwork for this one.

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Tags: chateau cheval blanc, ChateauChevalBlanc, sothebys, wine, wine auction, WineAuction

Wine Auctions Ripe for Buyers

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine, Auctions

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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Sotheby's Charges for Coffee at Hong Kong Auction

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

You know it's rough out there when Sotheby's makes you pay for coffee. At its five-day Hong Kong auction, the house was able to move only $89 million in antiques (HK$691 million), paintings and gems – less than half the take for the same event in 2008. With bidders forced to HK$20 (which looks more menacing than the U.S. equivalent, $2.50), one can only hope that Sotheby's was able to make up the difference.

This is a far cry from the $227 million that sold a year ago.

Sensitive to the global financial crisis, Sotheby's planned ahead, offering fewer expensive lots, which tend to get a bit more bidder action when financial markets are struggling. A larger number of wine lots showed up, as the liquid flows more easily than canvas. All of the bottles moved at the first Sotheby's Hong Kong wine auction.

Despite the downturn in art prices, some feel that now is a good time to invest in the oldest of old media. Ian Kai, an art dealer based in Beijing, remarked for Bloomberg, "Governments are printing so much money now. Fine artworks might be a better way to store value than currency."

The highest-priced piece at the auction was "Fishing Harvest" by Lin Fengmian, which fetched a hair over $2 million. Most paintings sold for prices well below those of comparable works at last year's auctions. Heading into the Hong Kong auction, Sotheby's cut presale estimates by an average of 20 percent and expanded its offering to include video installations and other non-painting works.

And that could be the enduring benefit of this marketplace.

"We are now seeing conceptual art at Hong Kong auctions, which is fantastic," said Sandra Walters, a Hong Kong-based collector who runs a namesake art-consulting company.

A broader perspective will lead to future returns for artists, collectors and auction houses.

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Tags: art auction, art auctions, ArtAuction, ArtAuctions, auction, auction-house, auctionhouse, auctions, beijing, china, financial, financial crisis, FinancialCrisis, financials, hong kong, hong kong filmart, HongKong, HongKongFilmart, recession, sotheby, sothebys, sothebys international realty, wine, wine auction, WineAuction

Forever Young Benefit Offers Wine Treats For A Good Cause

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine, Auctions

It's time for the annual Forever Young benefit for the Young School, a non-profit school in the town of St. Helena. The event takes place again at the fabulous Castello di Amorosa in Calistoga, California on March 6 and tickets are $150 at the door. A seated dinner is held in the Great Hall along with the live auction. Many of the auction lots are wine-centered and include lots of Napa Cabernet Sauvignon wines in magnums and other larger sizes, verticals of wine, as well as events and dinners at wineries in the Napa Valley including paella for 50 prepared by Tony Cartlidge of Cartlidge & Browne at Smith- Madrone, tickets to Louis Martini Winery's annual fireworks-bbq party, a "Spiritual Summit On a Napa Mountain" with five local clergy at Smith-Madrone Winery on Spring Mountain and a walk in a vineyard, tasting and picnic lunch with Paul Skinner of Terra Spase. The catalog will be available online for those who would like to bid without attending.

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Tags: wine, wine auction, WineAuction, young school, YoungSchool