Auction large lot question

For those in the business or otherwise in the know: why would an auction house create a large mixed lot? Just to take one page from the forthcoming HDH auction, there is a lot that has 31 bottles, another with 50 bottles and two mags, another with 18 bottles, 8 splits and 18 mags, with different wines, producers, vintages, etc. in each lot. One would think for duty’s sake it would be to maximize sales, although I can also see a case for administrative convenience. Who are the purchasers? Restaurants?

Major auction houses can’t be bothered selling $140 lots if they can reasonably avoid it.

The major purchasers at auctions are retailers and brokers. They typically don’t bother with very small lots. Sometimes the grouping of lots has to do with the overall sale. Auctions can take 6-8+ hours and you lose your audience if it goes too long, either to boredom or time zone issues. Obviously, fewer lots=shorter auction.

Yes, I should have included retailers with restaurants (a more obvious example of a business that needs inventory and can break up the lot to sell bottles in smaller increments to customers).

Would an auction house reach out to major purchasers in advance to create a lot? For instance, is the reason for creating one 50-bottle lot rather than two 25-bottle lots because a potential buyer has said they were interested in all of it and it is the type of wine that might typically only draw one buyer?

That didn’t happen where I worked. I can’t speak for other auction houses. There are typically several large buyers who bid in every auction. I can’t imagine any single lot where we would know only one interested buyer. It’s likely that the large lot is just the type of wine that is either fairly inexpensive, there are several other bottles of the same wine in the auction, or just not an interesting wine that typically gets a lot of action. I also would never make a 25-bottle lot due to packaging.

I sort of echo what Ray and Poppy said.
If it’s not a vertical, it really doesn’t make any sense why someone would make a 31 bottle lot (as Poppy noted, the shipping on that makes even less sense).

MAYBE they allowed the client to do their own lotting, but if I was allowing a client ANY input in to the lotting, I would push back like hell on a 31 bottle lot. You are just begging for bad results (unless of course it was a whole mess of something rare and geeky, like Tempier or Juge, and that was ALL the client had, but even then, you can find a better way to sell it).

Many auctions are from estates where they received the entire collection. They single out the most expensive bottles then group the other bottles together in a way that they will sell. Sometimes they will put a couple good bottles in with a bunch of lesser bottles so that they can sell the lesser bottles (you don’t want to be left with unsold lots at the end) knowing that someone will go after the good bottles.

Agree with that less valuable wines detract from the main business of auctions where the high priced wines are getting the bulk of the attention. This type of wine is sold quickly in a way that doesn’t take much time or resources.

The internet auctions means that these lots can be put together in more user friendly ways, so I am surprised to hear about 31 bottle mixed lots. Does HDH have internet only auctions?

That’s my guess.

What’s in the lot? I don’t think you can answer the question without knowing what the lot consists of.

If it’s a bunch of things that would be hard to sell in smaller lots, they may just want to move it.

I know this is done, but if it were me selling the wine, I’d be pissed. Anchor down the best stuff with dead weight? Not for nothing, but if you paired my 99 La Tache with some 04 Bertagna NSG Perrieres and the argument was “well it’s just easier to offer it that way”, I’d fly off the handle. You’d lose hundreds on the La Tache while the paltry value of the Bertagna wouldn’t off set the loses. That’s bad business.

Just sell the cheap stuff another way. Or better yet, say you won’t take it at all, and if the client walks, is it that big of a deal? You’re talking about a few thousand dollars out of millions need for a single sale.

Those who work(ed) for an auction house could answer with certainty, but I’d be surprised if estates make up anything more than a very small fraction of consignments.

Bingo. Very small percentage.

What are the major sources? Ex chateau? Collectors thinning their cellars? Investors dumping product? Bankrupt restaurants? Retailers or distributors with excess inventory? wineries with excess inventory? Just curious.

I have a friend who focuses entirely in mixed case lots at Christie’s auctions. He gets a hodgepodge of aged Bordeaux and he loves that. I figure he’s buying someone else’s random leftovers.

It’s surely collectors thinning their cellars.

I’d wager that investors selling is a distant second and the others you mentioned occur infrequently and are a distant third, fourth …

How’d I do Ian?

It’s like you’ve done this before???

Collector’s are #1 with a bullet. Sadly, the three D’s do come up (death, divorice and debt) which can produce large collections to come to market, but I’d very much venture to say that they were really serious collectors first that had something take a wrong turn in their life… Casual collectors rarely have more than low 5 figure cellars.

the one coming up is an internet-only auction. They still have plenty of traditional auctions that will have more traditional lots to bid on.

Can you copy the specific auction item; be in treating to see the mix

I’d also add health issues to the list. I had many clients who were serious wine guys whose medical conditions required them to stop drinking.

The 31-bottle lot is all California pinot, listed below:

(1) 2006 Tantara Winery Pinot Noir, Solomon Hills Vineyard
(3) 2008 Tyler Winery Pinot Noir, Bien Nacido Vineyard
(1) 2008 Talisman Wine Pinot Noir, Wildcat Mountain Vineyard
(1) 2009 Black Kite Cellars Pinot Noir, Stony Terrace
(1) 2009 Samsara Wine Company Pinot Noir, Kessler Haak
(1) 2009 Samsara Wine Company Pinot Noir, Rancho la Vina
(1) 2009 La Rochelle Winery Pinot Noir, Donum Estate
(1) 2009 Pey-Marin Vineyards Pinot Noir, “Trois Filles”
(1) 2010 Talley Vineyards Pinot Noir, Rincon Vineyard
(1) 2010 Drew Family Cellars Pinot Noir, Talfryn & Calder
(1) 2010 Bien Nacido Vineyards Pinot Noir, Santa Maria Valley
(1) 2010 Waits-Mast Family Cellars Pinot Noir, Oppenlander Vineyard
(2) 2011 Benovia Winery Pinot Noir, Cohn Vineyard
(1) 2011 Talley Vineyards Pinot Noir, Stone Corral Vineyard
(1) 2011 Samsara Wine Company Pinot Noir, Las Hermanas Vineyard
(1) 2011 Maggy Hawk Wines Pinot Noir, Jolie
(1) 2011 Patz & Hall Wine Co. Pinot Noir, Hyde Vineyard
(1) 2012 Tantara Winery Pinot Noir, La Colline Vineyard
(1) 2012 Paul Lato Wines Pinot Noir, Solomon Hills Vineyard, Suerte
(2) 2012 Benovia Winery Pinot Noir, Cohn Vineyard
(1) 2012 Talley Vineyards Pinot Noir, Stone Corral Vineyard
(1) 2012 Waits-Mast Family Cellars Pinot Noir, Nash Mill Vineyard
(1) 2012 Cattleya Wines Pinot Noir, Donum Vineyard
(1) 2012 Brooks Note Winery Pinot Noir, Weir Vineyard
(1) 2012 Paul Hobbs Winery Pinot Noir, Hyde Vineyard
(1) 2012 Melville Vineyards Pinot Noir, Estate
(1) 2013 Desperada Wines Pinot Noir, Suitor

The 50-bottle, 2 mag lot is pinot from a single producer (various vineyards and vintages).

Lotting makes sense to me.