Online Wine Auction Highlights: From the Southern Rhone to Napa Valley

Hot on the heels of the successful live auction last week, the online portion of our Fine Wines auction continues through Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 8:00 p.m. EDT. This is the first time Skinner has run a timed online auction, and so far the response has been excellent.

I thought I’d spend a few minutes this Wine Wednesday picking out a few lots I’m particularly excited about in the online wine auction. There are almost 600 lots to choose from, and if you have a favorite that’s not listed here, let us know in the comments.

La Pousse d’Or Volnay 1er Cru Clos de la Bousse d’Or 1985

Lot 574: La Pousse d’Or Volnay 1er Cru Clos de la Bousse d’Or 1985

Lot 574 – View Online Auction Listing

My favorite lot in the entire sale, live or online, is this one, 6 bottles of 1985 Clos de la Bousse d’Or. The consignor was kind enough to provide us with a bottle of this wine to demonstrate the quality of his storage. Simply put, the bottle was right in the sweet spot for Burgundy; smoke and earth, nuanced fruit, fully mature yet the acidity suggests some years ahead. And that was from a bottle with a four centimeter ullage, so imagine what is in store for the winner of this lot.

Estimate: $450-750

Clos Saint Jean Chateauneuf du Pape Deus Ex Machina 2005

Lot 706 – View Online Auction Listing

This 100-pointer is a combination of old and new styles in the Southern Rhone: a blend of 60% Grenache aged in the traditional 4500-liter foudre barrels and 40% Mouvedre aged in the more modern style barriques. This is one of two new cuvees produced since winemaker Philippe Gambie took the reins in 2003. Yields for this cuvee are a jaw-droppingly low 20 hectoliters/hectare. This is a wine with staying power to last the better part of a century, but so deftly crafted that it can be enjoyed immediately.

Estimate: $900-1,300

Chateau Pavie 2004

Lot 523 – View Online Auction Listing

My favorite right-bank Chateau in a difficult year for the region, the 2004 is everything you’d expect from modern-style Bordeaux: densely concentrated, approachable in its youth and full of potential for decades worth of development in bottle. You have the sense that by 2004 proprietor Gerard Perse had hit his stride with the estate that he took over in 1998. It seems that the mysteries of the varied soils on the vineyard’s south-facing slopes have been tamed at the hands of their master and no matter what challenges the vintage may provide, you can be confident that an outstanding wine will beproduced.

Estimate: $200-300

Lail Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon J. Daniel Cuvee

Lots 922-930 – View Online Auction Listing

Representing every vintage from the debut 1995 through 2004, these lots offer a vertical of a standout Napa Valley wine that was sold almost exclusively to members of its mailing list. Raised by the eponymous winemaking legend John Daniel, who crafted the historic Inglenooks of the 1940s, Robin Lail was a partner with Christian Moueix at Dominus before starting her own operation with winemaker Philippe Melka. The J. Daniel Cuvee is the premier wine produced by the estate, a Bordeaux style blend of Cabernet and Merlot from properties in Yountville, Vine Hill Road and Howell Mountain until 2001, when it became a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon cuvee.

Estimates range from $150 to $350

Market Trends: The Rise of Buying Wine Online at Auction

Buying Wine Online | Jerome Bressy Rasteau, Gourt de Martens 2000

Jerome Bressy Rasteau, Gourt de Martens 2000, to be sold in the May 3, 2012 Fine Wines Auction (Lot 161, Est. $300-500)

The internet has changed commerce on all levels. From eBay to Amazon to etsy, the online marketplace is becoming the shopping mall of the 21st century. Little surprise, then, that fine wines have made the transition to online venues.

Many brick-and-mortar auction houses use internet sales models as an additional channel for their businesses. Skinner was an innovator and one of the first, offering internet sales as an adjunct to live sales starting in the late 1990s. Our upcoming May Fine Wines auction in Boston features 379 lots on Thursday, May 3, and stays true to this tradition. But, in a new twist of the internet theme, Skinner is happy to announce that over 500 additional lots will be available in an online, timed auction, starting at midnight on May 4th for ten days.

For several years, collectors have been able to offer wines on consignment online through websites like WineBid.com and WineCommune.com. These companies are exclusively built around an online business model for wine auctions, and offer wine for sale in fixed-length auctions. Wines in these auctions run the gamut from $10 bottles to investment-grade Bordeaux. With thousands of lots on offer at any given time, there is certainly something for everyone… if you can find it. Without the benefit of a physical catalogue, you have to know what you’re looking for or spend hours browsing the online inventory.

Buying Wine Online | Napa Valley California Wine

Dominus Napanook 1997, Napa, 12 bottles, featured in the May 4-13, 2012 Fine Wines - Online auction (Lot 879, Est. $150-250)

The Skinner approach makes the most of the benefits of both the live, saleroom auction and the online-only approach. With the May 3rd live auction event, there will be all the hallmark drama of a competitive auction: a lavishly illustrated catalogue, and a unique event to attend and enjoy. Starting at midnight on the May 4th, the online sale will begin and you can continue to participate while enjoying the convenience and privacy of bidding from home with a carefully curated wine catalogue by your side.

Unlike those online-only wine auctions, Skinner provides a beautifully illustrated, print catalogue detailing all lots offered in both auctions, allowing you the opportunity to research wines prior to the auction’s actual start. A digital version of the same catalogue is available to view online.

How did we determine which wines to place in which sale? We carefully examined, analyzed, and catalogued each consignment to determine the best sales venue for each wine. We considered auction history, bidder tendencies, current market valuations, trends, and other factors when determining which wines would achieve the best results online or on the block.

I have sold and bought wine in both types of auctions, and understand the merits of each. I doubt the market will ever settle on just one type of auction; as with most things in life and especially with wine, balance is the key. One thing is certain: when your lot is up, whether you’re at home in front of a computer or in the salesroom with a paddle in hand, your heart will be racing.

If you’re interested in learning more about buying or consigning fine wines at auction, contact us at 508-970-3296, or finewines@skinnerinc.com.

Favorite Auction Highlights of 2011, Part I: Folk Art, Dragons, and Wine

2011 was a great year for fine art & antiques, and it wasn’t easy to choose favorites from all the wonderful items that came through our auctions.

Great works of art, historical items, and finely crafted objects leave a lasting impression on those who encounter them. At Skinner Auction House, we are thankful for the privilege and responsibility of caring for these objects.

Here are our picks, and the reasons why we feel these items are important and worthy of recognition.

Folk Art Portrait

This stunning picture of Abigail Rose broke the record for the sale of a folk art portrait at auction – Karen Keane, CEO

Extra accoutrement in portraits is always alluring. Abigail Rose sat in a Queen Anne chair holding a rose, next to a table with four books and a Battersea patchbox. The compelling complementary colors of green and red and the asymmetrical composition create an at once vibrant and peaceful scene. The painting, from 1786, is well-preserved, in original condition, and broke the record for the sale of a folk art portrait at auction.

American School, 18th Century, Portrait of Abigail Rose, North Branford, Connecticut, 1786, at the Age of Fourteen, Auctioned for $1.27 million in the American Furniture & Decorative Arts auction on November 5, 2011

Art Deco Bracelet

The fire-breathing dragon is such an unusual and delightful motif – Victoria Bratberg, Director of Fine Jewelry

Skinner sold so many beautiful things this year, but my favorite had to be this figural bracelet. I loved the fire-breathing dragons—made of diamonds and calibre-cut rubies—and the fact that it was a piece of American art deco jewelry. Most of the fine art deco jewelry we see is made in France, but this was an exception and a fantastic example. The bracelet descended in a prominent New York family, and was originally retailed by Thomas Kirkpatrick, & Co., New York.

Fine Art Deco Platinum and Diamond Figural Bracelet, Auctioned for $171,825 on December 6, 2011

1961 Petrus Wine

It was a thrill watching this major vintage sell so well - Don Kelly, CFO

Even though 1961 is a major vintage, it’s still amazing that one bottle of wine can sell so strongly. I’ve gotten more interested in wine over the past 6 or 7 years, and I now have a small collection of 30 or so bottles. I’m starting to be able to tell the difference between a good bottle and a great bottle, and I wish I could try a glass of this 1961 Petrus.

As quoted in the auction catalogue, “The 1961 Petrus was pure perfection,” and, “The wine is crammed with viscous, thick, over-ripe black-cherry, mocha-tinged fruit flavors. Extremely full-bodied, with huge amounts of glycerin and alcohol, this unctuously-textured, thick wine makes for an awesome mouthful. Imagine a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup laced with layers of coffee and cherry, and encased in a shell of Valrhona chocolate!” (R. Parker, 100 pts. 02/96)

Chateau Petrus 1961, Auctioned for $17,010 on November 8, 2011

Favorite Auction Highlights of 2011, Part II

Watch for the next post about a rock crystal bowl, remarkable dwarf clock, rare turning lathe, and antique diamond necklace.

Wine for the Holidays: Why You Can’t Manufacture a Wine Epiphany

Chateau Lafite Rothschild 1982, Auctioned for over $55,000 in spring 2011

The holidays: they can be filled with the love, light, and laughter of families and friends; or fraught with navigating the sometimes precarious shoals of time spent with those families and friends. For me, it’s always a little bit of both.

As a fine wine appraiser with Skinner and general all-around wine enthusiast, I’m always pondering the question I know many of you debate with renewed vigor at this time of year: “Which wines should we pour?” This question is usually chased at the heels by the inevitable “how do I gauge the audience and not miss the mark?” When you’re passionate about wine, it’s easy to forget that not everyone out there appreciates it to the same extent.

After all, wine is a personal experience that doesn’t necessarily translate to circumscribed events or particular group dynamics. When the wine you pour isn’t understood or enjoyed by the friends or family you’re entertaining, the best thing to do is to go Zen and chalk it up to experience.

You may find yourself nodding in agreement as you think back to the time that one of your guests mixed the kids’ fruit punch with a prized red to make their own sangria. Or perhaps you filled a good friend’s glass with a great vintage first growth Bordeaux, and in return he asked, not missing a beat, “do you have any beer?”

What I’ve learned is that in the midst of the social swirl of holidays and special occasions, you can’t manufacture a wine epiphany, no matter how badly you want to. You may wish to boldly declaim the deepened aromas and tastes of a vintage Champagne, when all your guests want is to enjoy something with bubbles that zing out of the glass. My advice is let them! The best hosts and hostesses learn to take a cue from their guests: they lighten up and let others experience great wine on their own terms.

If you still feel the need to educate your audience, remember that these people are your guests, not your students, so skip the speech and rethink your strategy. I recently spoke with someone who liked brown bagging his selections at the holiday table in a blind tasting so everyone could discuss. What he found was that when his guests approached the wine without preconceived expectations, their lack of label knowledge heightened their critical capacity and generally landed them upon the finer wines, which then dovetailed nicely into a deeper discussion.

I am truly fortunate in that most of my friends, relatives and in-laws have a fine appreciation for wine and I feel lucky to be in their company. In the midst of the holiday season, I find I like to look back over the year to some of the simpler yet still enchanting wines I’ve really enjoyed. Then, I lay in a stock and try not to worry about the ice cubes being dropped in that prized glass of Montrachet. Of course, I still plan to open a treasured bottle or two, but in smaller gatherings, when the pressure is off, the circle is intimate, and the passion for wine equals mine.

You’ve heard my wine confessions – now commit yours to posterity by leaving a comment, or send it to me at finewines@skinnerinc.com and please, let us know if we have your nod to post it.

Mature Wine vs. Young Wine: How Age Comes to Bear

At Auction November 8, 2011 in Boston: Lot 622: Domaine de la Romanee Conti, Richebourg 1988, 9 bottles, Est. $6,000-8,000

There are few moments in the hectic tide of everyday life when a hush falls, you focus fully on one thing, and the world seems to stop. Drinking a mature wine as it is blooming in the glass can be one of those unexpected moments of transcendence. Granted, it is, after all, just a sip of a beverage, but the unexpected nature of the experience makes it that much more delightful.

In a mature wine, even the bottle presentation is different. Instead of a pristine bottle sporting a clear label, it may be a crusty, bin-soiled wreck of a bottle, with a stained, glue-striped deteriorating label, distinctly revealing layers of time spent in the depths of a cellar.

Before drinking, you will want to stand the bottle upright for at least a day to allow the sediment to settle to the bottom and keep it out of your glass, at least until the last glorious glass when it begins to creep into the pour.

The removal of the cork from a bottle of mature wine may require forethought and applied strategy. You may run through your collection of corkscrews as you try to pull out the older cork, saturated with wine from its long horizontal rest. The older corks are longer and skinnier and so even more difficult to deliver in one clean pull. Sometimes a mess is unavoidable.

Once the wine is in your glass, you will experience the surge of the familiar, but even then, it is all different.

For a red wine, the deep red/burgundy/violet colors of the wine have shifted a spot or two to the left on the color spectrum, becoming tinged with rust and deeper browning, particularly on the edges. The sediment has been filtering slowly as the tannins bind and drop out, leaving a more translucent, lighter-appearing wine.

Older wines may require some patience and a delay of judgment. Be prepared to spend some time with each glass. Capturing the essence of these wines in descriptions and adjectives is an exercise almost better left undone, and could obscure the sensation and immediacy of drinking it – an experience almost on the molecular level. However blunt and imperfect, tasting notes do provide that necessary recall.

With young wines, notes on the wines may declare a wine’s character as brash or volatile. Some younger wines grab you by the shirt collar for attention, and some you can’t seem to keep up with. With mature wines, such as the Conterno Barolo Monfortino Riserva 1971, or the Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia White 1966, each featured in the November 8, 2011 Wine Auction in Boston, there are layers of aroma issuing from the glass. The Monfortino is textured autumnal layers, one softly falling away to reveal another. My tasting notes include phrases such as: “strikingly fine quality; humectant, woodsmoke, truffles, with a fullness of experience in the bottle.” The Lopez de Heredia has a “startling gravitas and depth, with a graceful tension between its ethereal delicacy and evolving maturity.”

When I open a mature wine, I often decant some of the bottle to track parallel evolutions. Handling older wines may take a little more time, and it may seem as if you’re pulling up another chair for it at the table, as it becomes a focal point at moments, then recedes, then returns with another quality. This, to me, is remarkable.

Even if you pour a wine that is past its prime, there is still enjoyment to be had; it may not be the glory of all it was, but there is a semblance of it. It’s impossible to open every bottle at the perfect moment in the arc of its maturity. But I think it’s the surprise of not knowing exactly what to expect from a mature bottle of wine that keeps us so attuned to what’s in our glass, and keeps us pulling out those soaked, crumbly corks in the first place.

Surprise and Adventure at Auction: A Wine Buying Guide

The worlds of auction and wine were destined to collide; both embrace a spirit of connoisseurship, a sense of adventure, the thrill of the chase, and a certain amount of whimsical gratification. While they might feel intimidating at first, wine auctions are great fun. This wine buying guide offers six brief strategies to get you started on what I hope will be a thrilling lifelong pursuit.

1. Know Yourself

How to Buy Wine | Domaine des Comtes Lafon

November 8, 2011 Fine Wines Auction, Lots 314 and 315: Domaine des Comtes Lafon 2002, 2005, and 2006

Knowledge is the key to success in the auction world, and it all starts with knowing yourself.

What wines interest you and what are your reasons for buying? Are you interested in collecting varietals, such as Cabernet Sauvignon from around the world; or is it wines from a specific region or maker that intrigue you? Maybe you are buying wines to complement a festive holiday meal or to celebrate a special occasion. Perhaps you’re a beginning collector, and you’d like to start with one great inspiring bottle; or you could be a seasoned veteran looking to fill out your cellar.

Whatever the case, identifying what you want will help focus your collecting strategy and put you in a good position to make better choices come auction day.

2. Set Your Budget

The savviest auction buyers determine their budgets in advance. This simple discipline will enable you to hone in on the wines that you really desire and prevent you from getting caught up in an auction frenzy (albeit fun to do at least once) and the attendant risk of paying more than you’d planned for one or two lots. Along with your budget, determine the general number of bottles you wish to take home, eliminating the feast or famine result. With this one-two approach, you will be able to harness your buying power and be satisfied with the hammer results.

3. Cultivate a Desire for Learning

Sophisticated wine buyers are the ultimate educated auction consumers and with good reason: knowing about the history, geography, culture, sociology, and the vinification of wine gives context to what you pour into your glass and makes drinking the wine ever more gratifying. There is no need to become a wine scholar, but cultivating a desire for learning will spark a passion which will carry you through a lifetime of collecting. A few good reference books will speed you on your way. One of my favorites wine resources is The Wine Bible by Karen MacNeil. Another, which I admire for sheer gorgeousness and voluminous content, is Andre Domine’s Wine.

4. Find a Space for your Wine

Great wine is dependent upon proper storage – why risk everything that has occurred in the life of the wine by subjecting it to iffy storage? Before you buy, make sure you have adequate wine storage so your investment is protected. If you don’t have your own climate controlled space or an ideal natural cellar, an off-the-shelf wine cooler is a good alternative. For larger purchases, seek out a licensed, climate-controlled wine storage facility that provides easily accessible storage.

5. Enjoy the Auction Catalogue

For wine lovers, browsing a great wine auction catalogue can be nirvana, so be prepared to spend some time narrowing down the choices. There are the solid “must-haves,” the “very-likely’s,” and the little-known wines that intrigue and pique your interest. Once you have this potential bid list in hand, do some research on the wines with which you are less familiar. Ask friends, consult known critics, read print and online reviews. Again, here’s where a small but utilitarian set of reference books, such as those mentioned above, will be indispensable.

6. Ask Questions

Whenever possible, attend any pre-auction tastings or events. And, on auction day plan to attend and watch the bidding for a while on the auction floor if your schedule allows (if not, participating online is a suitable alternate). But seeing this live marketplace in action is the best way to get a sense of how it all works and thus how you may step into it. I also recommend speaking to the wine specialist or department head prior to the auction. Let these auction experts be your guide through the process. They’re there to answer questions you might have – either on the wines you’ve selected or on auction mechanics.

As a devotee of both auctions and fine wines, I invite you to join in this exhilarating experience at the Fine Wines auction on November 8, 2011. There’s always room for one more paddle on the auction floor. Make it yours.

Wine Buying Guide | Chateau Rauzan Segla

Lot 138: Chateau Rauzan Segla 2000, 11 bottles, Est. $750-1,100

Wine Buying Guide | Gaja Sori San Lorenzo

Lot 147: Gaja Sori San Lorenzo 1995, 1 doule magnum, Est. $300-500

Wine Buying Guide | Araujo Estate Eisele Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

Lot 239: Araujo Estate Eisele Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

Auction Punk!

Beats the odds and get the deal!

Category Archives: Fine Wines