UPDATE: Auction purchase - wine beyond damaged

I’ve been buying at auction for 20+ years, backfilling old favorites. I’ve purchased well over 200 bottles from Winebid, HDH, TCWC, Brentwood & recently Acker auction houses - can’t recall a single bad bottle. Many of these purchases were wines 30, 40, 50 years old.

However, I opened this bottle last night and was shocked pouring this into the glass. I’ve never seen a (red) wine this color, even older wines 50+ years old. As in the photo, the color was light brown (not a hint of ruby/red). The fill was into the low neck and did show some slight seepage through the entire cork. Just wondering what could have happened to this wine that it could turn this color? I immediately opened the second bottle from the same auction lot and the color was much more in line with what I would expect. The second bottle was also damaged but not to the extent of this first bottle. Obviously both bottles were poorly stored and undrinkable.
The wine: 1996 Chateau St. Jean Cinq CepagesFirst Bottle
Image (2).jpeg
Second Bottle
Image (3).jpeg

That looks terrible. If the auction house has a shred of interest in keeping you as a customer and their reputation intact, they should refund you immediately.

Just looks oxidized. I think you’ve just been lucky previously to never have encountered a wine like this.

this is my takeaway. i suppose you can reach out and ask for a credit or something. I’m not typically a superstitious dude, but this feels like you may not want to jinx the wine gods.

Quick question - did you slow ox it and recheck the wine later? I’ve found that many of these wines ‘come back’ after being revived with a bit of oxygen. May seem ‘counter-intuitive’ but it has often happened.

Also, you give no mention of the wine or the age of the wine - nor show the bottle or cork. All of this would be helpful to know / see.

Cheers.

Which is going to be hard for OP to prove should have been obvious when it was purchased at auction. Auction house may well claim it oxidized in OP’s cellar after purchase (and to be clear, that’s very possibly true).

I thought there would be no warranty on drinkability of old wines, just an accurate description of the bottle condition and provenance if known.

I’m not sure I agree that the right thing would be for the auction house to make the OP whole, if the bottle condition was accurately described. I expect a significant share of old bottles to be over the hill, and I bid accordingly.

Gents, read the spoiler.

It’s a 1996 Ch. St. Jean Cinq Cepages! No way it should look like that.

This was 1996 Chateau St. Jean Cinq Cepages. This was pop and pour. What you see in the glass was within 20 seconds of popping the cork. I suspected it was oxidized but have never seen an oxidized (red) wine turn this color. Had it been a white wine I would have not been as shocked. It was not even a darker shade of brown. It seems like all of the color disappeared from this bottle of wine.

I’m not even looking for reimbursement. My thought has always been that when buying from auction, it’s a risk I’m taking. I’ve had good success with my auction purchases so a few bad bottles is to be expected. I just wasn’t expecting the one bad bottle to be this damaged (especially for a 25 year old bottle with good fill).

How long ago did you purchase it Joe?

So?
Any particular wine can go bad with time, and the longer the time the more bad things can happen. With auction, you pays your money and you takes your chances. Surprised Joe never had a bad bottle before buying at auction. I’ve bought retail only and had defective wines (never oxidized like that though).

recent notes on cellartracker suggest it might be past its peak, but i wouldnt expect it to look anything like what you show us OP

As many much wiser than me have repeatedly said - ‘there are no great wines, just great bottles’ . . .

Jorge: This was purchased June 2020 (so only a few months ago).

I just went back to the listing and reviewed the conditions (1ssos 2vhs 2vlbsl). I do recall being aware that one bottle condition did acknowledge slight seepage.

I know the risks involved in purchasing auction wine. I was just really surprised at the color of the wine. I’ve had some bad wines from the 50’s and 60’s but at least there was a hint of red showing. This color of this liquid could have passed for a tawny port.

Again, I’m not looking for recourse against the auction house. But I will certainly be hesitant on buying from them again.

FWIW, I have one bottle of the 96 Cinq Cepages that I purchased at the winery and have stored in my cellar since release. I should have opened it after these two purchased at auction, but ended up just opening a completely different wine. I’d be shocked if the bottle I bought and stored is not still in great condition and singing - will update this thread when I do!

That’s a bummer, but I don’t think you have much recourse to anyone. If you had bought a current release that would be a different story.

Corks are variable, and after 25ish years, there are some that fail.

Signs of seepage sounds like it was fairly described.

If you drink enough ‘old’ wine you run into bottles that have matured more than their peers. It’s to be expected. That bottle certainly looks much more advanced that you should normally expect. That does not necessarily mean it was treated badly.

Editing as you’ve given more info. If there was some seepage on one of the bottles then it’s buyer beware. That’s not really on them. They gave due warning. It’s also an indication you should feel comfortable buying from them as they described it accurately. You are taking as extra risk buying a bottle like that. After all, they cannot examine the contents of the bottles. There is always some risk opening older bottles, even when you know the exact provenance yourself.

Just to reiterate again - I’m not blaming the auction house, nor am I seeking a refund!

I have bought at auction many times, even bottles noted with slight seepage. But I’ve never had a (red) wine with this color. The photos I posted is the same wine, two different bottles from the same auction. I would assume they were both likely purchased and stored at the same location until sold at auction. Just amazed at the difference between the two bottles and how one is so much more advanced and destroyed. For all I know, something could have happened at the winery during the bottling process.

Yes. I think you’ve been very very lucky if this is the first time you’ve run into an older bottle that was more advanced than you’ve wanted. Or even just secretly cooked. They are an adventure which is part of the fun.

Obviously you have never had friends who store their one good bottle of wine in their garage in Florida. [wink.gif]

Always tough to act gracious for their generosity…" I just knew that you would enjoy this bottle because you like wine so much"… while simultaneously trying not to spit.

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What about female or non-binary readers? [snort.gif] neener