Have wine auction lots become much more scarce....?

…and expensive?

Geez…

Yep

The aged, non-prestige, old-school over-achievers are no longer cheap. WineHunting has gotten tougher.

Always loved finding a gem or two every week, but it seems that the reserves have gone up and a lot more bidders (good for the company/auction houses I guess).

I really only started hunting at auction 2 years ago and this past year has seemed a lot harder/more expensive. Maybe people trying to backfill cellars/explore as all the wine gets consumed through the lockdown.

That seems the answer.

My thought was a bit the opposite seeing HDH’s January sale catalogue. I have never seen so many lots of lesser tier wines in such great quantity. Which may prove your point. People think they can now turn a good profit on Santenay and obscure St. Emilion’s, the stellar wines having become so wildly expensive.

On scarce, that’s a matter of taste and what you re looking for. I’ve not had trouble finding my needs over time. Looking for rare, weird, or odd, maybe need to be patient.

That leads to the second matter, expensive…

Yes, often hefty-priced depending on vintage and uniqueness for lack of a better term. Using auction price as a baseline, I have found many wines that are less than 20 years old are available on Wine Searcher from reputable shops that come in less than or at the auction price. Super rare or “cult”, different deal. Teh things most people folloe welcome home. Price-wise, that obviously precludes a 17% premium which gets tacked on WB. Shipping is just a reality though some get weird with offering only higher end options. Had that today.

All said, my thoughts, use auction for the things you can’t fine and research pricing to make sure its fair. Cruise shops for things you like, bulk ship when you can. There/s no such thing as free shipping, so be fair.

Yes, and seemingly more so this year. WineBid has gotten more challenging, in particular.

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Yep. I am being more selective as I have too much wine and need to stop, but for while it was easy to grab 6-12 bottles per month at WB. Now, I’ve been holding four bottles in storage with them since late summer. Just not like it used to be.

Many wines are exceeding retail, and older blue chips seem to be very expensive.

Enough that I’ve considered selling about half my collection.

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Winebid has become far more competitive. I have been sniped way more in the last two months than I have been in the last two years.

I definitely agree with this. I’m relatively new to winebid myself, joined in 2018, but even I could tell a difference in 2020. I previously followed several bottles for a few weeks, then made a monthly buy when/if the price dropped below the retail range or at least close to what I previously paid. Not much of what I have followed seems to make it there anymore.

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The Covid-effect?

I know I’ve bought more than normal this year.

I would think that it is a large part of it. Higher consumption and more money being diverted from my traveling budget have increased my purchasing. Traveling vicariously with regional wine, food recipes, and travel documentaries have been our go to pandemic entertainment.

Winebid also seems more aggressive with their marketing on social media in the past year, so that might play a part.

  1. From my analysis, WB is often worst value for blue chips across Burg and Bordeaux
  2. Retail lags auction, so if there is an increase in demand you will see it reflected in auction prices first (you will see retail quantities either already at zero or soon after)
  3. Auction prices are pretty variable across platforms and countries. Just look at WMJ for the level of intrayear fluctuations possible

All told, prices roughly flat year on year. In burgundy, prices are up for 1er and Village wine but marquee 1er cru and GC have mostly held firm or fallen a touch. There have been some one-off pops (Italian and champagne notably) but they are normalizing.

In my buying I’ve found good deals this year but in different places than years prior.

While aggregated Q4 data isn’t out yet (last I checked) auction buying is down in 2020 vs 2019.

Don’t forget tariffs. People stocking up on wines that are already imported assuming new ones will have a surcharge or worse. Now that some distributors are halting imports altogether to see what the situation will be later this year there’s a scarcity element as well.

I had a decent experience at Winebid last year but I wasn’t going after anything monumental. Just backfilling some stuff. I think I got everything at opening bid but again, nothing too competitive.

Why, what are you looking for? [scratch.gif]