Auction tomorrow

I'm sure it won't have escaped most people's attention but our 2 day wine and spirits auction starts tomorrow at 10.00 May Wines and Spirits Auction A huge amount of great stuff to bid on with day one devoted to the wines of France and day 2 including spirits, fortifieds and the rest of the world. Highlights are many and varied and there is something in there for all budgets and palates. There's also a run of four lots with all proceeds going to charity. Enjoy!
 
My work diary has partly freed up for tomorrow. May approach Mrs C & renegotiate the spending cap. (Managed to tidy away today's deliveries - though the cartons in the recycling may be spotted......).
 
Is anyone else able to get the broadcast? It seems like he's selling very effectively without it but...it's always good to have the entertainment!
 
I am a great fan of Beaujolais ( I am a Maitre Compagnon du Beaujolais) but after all is said and done no matter the vintage and the label, it is still a Beaujolais. Rousseau Chambertin it isn't !
Still, best of luck with the auction Chris !!
 
Great work Chris - I snagged a couple of lots and hopefully one tomorrow.
I learned a lot based on your commentary on other lots I wasn't bidding on too!
 
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For those experienced in buying through auctions, is there a sweet spot for bids that you use as a rule of thumb? Lower end of the estimate, a % above or below that?
 
For me Adam it's doing the diligence on Wine Searcher factoring in the commission for an auction bid often vs duty and VAT for Wine Searcher prices.

This then gives a sense of how good the estimate range is vs the market. I know Chris is very thorough at checking the provenance of the wines but also important to look at the photos etc.
I can then gauge whether this is a good one of there is little bidding and come below or whether it's a wine I'd really like and somewhere in the estimate is fair.

I haven't bought any wines beyond the estimate range
 
Epic Chris. Must admit I didn't get a lot of work done today. Good to see most of my lots sold for within or even above the estimates. Didn't get either of those I bid on though - that was my bid on the 1982 Meyney that got beaten right on the hammer.
 
For those experienced in buying through auctions, is there a sweet spot for bids that you use as a rule of thumb? Lower end of the estimate, a % above or below that?
As well as cooncil Wine-Searcher on the next door tab in my web browser, I have also knocked up a spreadsheet that can handle both in bond and duty paid purchases, buyer's commission and delivery and calculates a single bottle price, so I know when to stop (or not even start) bidding as its surprising how many people pay well over the odds when they get caught up in the excitement. :rolleyes:
 
As well as cooncil Wine-Searcher on the next door tab in my web browser, I have also knocked up a spreadsheet that can handle both in bond and duty paid purchases, buyer's commission and delivery and calculates a single bottle price, so I know when to stop (or not even start) bidding as its surprising how many people pay well over the odds when they get caught up in the excitement. :rolleyes:

Paul the excel geek in me loves this idea. Will steal it!
 
As always, entertaining.
The two lots of interest had low estimates. I bid on the first but it went for nearly twice the low. For the sec never had the opportunity to bid, as it went for well above the high.
I’ve put in a bid for tomorrow for an undervalued estimate wine I regard as top notch, but it will surely go for much higher.
 
For recent Bordeaux IB, you can do your homework and compare with Farrs etc.

For certain categories of rare or not very well understood wine, you will make your judgement and more or less ignore the estimates (unless they are too high!).
This is true for a wine I bought from Sothebys in the last month which not many people have tasted. And it is true (potentially - fingers crossed) of an inexpensive, obscure lot bought at Bacchus today (with advice from a forumite much more expert than me on the category in question).

Although definitely a historical anecdote, the best single lot I ever bought was from Christies. I put in a faxed bid over 10 times the top estimate. (Fax - you can tell it was a long time ago!)
They called me two hours before the auction asking if I had added an extra zero to my handwritten bid by mistake. I said I had made a mistake, I hadn't bid enough, and they should increase the bid to 15 times the top estimate.
In the end I got the wine (6 bottles of Madeira) and was happy to pay only a modest 8 times top estimate. Two days later I got a call from the leading global broker of old Madeira saying that he was the underbidder and would have bid more if he had been present, asking if I would sell him two or three bottles (at an instance profit). I declined his offer. I only have one bottle left! I've drunk the rest. It was worth it! The problem these days (not so many years later) you would have to add a zero to the price I paid, if such a lot were to surface again.
 
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I managed to snag a birth year bottle of DP to stick in the eurocave for the next 4 years. Thought I was going to get a 6 pack of Meursault for a steal, and then everyone seemed to wake up and it ended up going for double my bid! Will need to do some due diligence tonight and put in some commission bids, purely to reduce my car emissions per bottle when I come to collect.
 
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