| The annual 2013 Vintages live auction concluded on the weekend with 400 lots being offeredon Friday night and a further 1,005 lots being offered the following Saturday.
We have analyzed all of the lots individually and by region and offer the following snapshot below.
Please note that we analyze only the solid lots, not the mixed lots. Mixed cannot be accurately analyzed on a bottle level as one never knows the value the buyer is placing on each bottle. Mixed lots are also unique to wine auctions in general as it is widely accepted that they garner less than bottles sold solid. Vintages sold 44% mixed lots this year simply because there is no alternate means of sale in Ontario.
General stats:
- 1,405 lots were offered this year up from 1,098 last year. 2011 had 1,907 lots though there was no online auction afterward
- 927 lots were solid which is 66%, up from last years 56%
- 139 did not sell representing an 85% sell through rate, significantly improved from 77% last year
- Total value of solid lots offered was $1.32M – $1.61M
- Of the lots that sold, the total was $1.01M which translated to 101% of the low estimate compared to a similar 102% of low value in 2012. A target is typically halfway between the low and high estimate ( $1.00M – $1.23M) so the LCBO has been a little optimistic for the last two years.
Analysis per region:
| Region/
Country |
Total Solid |
Lots DNS |
Sell Through |
Sell Through
2012 |
Low (sold) |
High (sold) |
Hammer |
% to low |
| Australia |
37
|
4
|
89.2%
|
|
$26,500
|
$32,700
|
$26,900
|
101.5%
|
| Chile |
7
|
3
|
57.2%
|
|
$4,000
|
$4,800
|
$3,575
|
89.5%
|
| Bordeaux |
358
|
63
|
82.4%
|
71.2%
|
$426,750
|
$525,950
|
$431,026
|
101.0%
|
| Burgundy |
61
|
17
|
72.2%
|
75.3%
|
$93,200
|
$113,000
|
$88,930
|
95.42%
|
| Champagne |
14
|
6
|
57.2%
|
|
$7,900
|
$9,800
|
$7,400
|
93.67%
|
| Rhone |
52
|
2
|
96.2%
|
|
$48,250
|
$59,750
|
$53,150
|
110.2%
|
| Sauternes |
16
|
1
|
93.7%
|
|
$24,850
|
$30,450
|
$24,790
|
99.76%
|
| Italy |
163
|
15
|
90.8%
|
70.5%
|
$161,350
|
$198,050
|
$158,330
|
98.13%
|
| Portugal |
25
|
2
|
92%
|
|
$16,100
|
$19,800
|
$17,435
|
108.29%
|
| Spain |
28
|
14
|
50%
|
|
$27,300
|
$33,100
|
$25,425
|
93.13%
|
| California |
163
|
22
|
86.6%
|
87.2%
|
$168,800
|
$208,400
|
$176,250
|
104.41%
|
Highlights:
- There were 43 lots of DRC on sale of which 15 did not sell for a surprisingly low sell through rate of 65% on one of the worlds most sought after wines. Of those that sold the final tally was 4.2% below the low appraised value.
- First 105 lots were no reserve bid and actually did produce bargains overall at 89% of the low estimate overall for the solids.
- Lot 1284 was a single bottle of 2009 DRC Romanee-Conti which sold at $15,000 off a high estimate of $13,200. Though very few of these bottles have changed hands in North America in 2013 (6 to be exact) the average was only $9,250 with a high of $10,000 at Zachy’s in March.
- The 6 bottles of 1945 Haut Brion sold at 1% below their low estimate at $16,000 or $2,666 each. This is a very rare wine with only 1 bottle changing hands in North America this year and 12 in 2012 at an average of $2,213 per bottle. A six bottle case has not been sold on our continent since HDH sold one in 2007 at $3,666 and before that Acker Merrill in 2006 selling a 12 bottle case for just over $4000 a bottle.
- 5 magnums of 1996 Latour sold at the high estimate of $10,500 or $2,100 each. No bargain here. While lightly traded in North America (3 in 2013 and 16 in 2012) it has averaged between $1000 and $1500 per bottle since 2007, and just over $1000 in the last two years.
While the quantity of lots was larger than 2012 the overall value of the auction is down slightly from 2012 with a high estimate of about $2.2M. While the largest auction of it’s kind in Canada, it’s relatively small by world standards. For example, the recent Hart Davis Hart September auction was over $5M in sales and was only one of 7 throughout the year.
|
Warren Porter runs Iron Gate Private Wine Management, based in Toronto and recently published thoughtful analysis of the Vintages Wine Auction. He graciously allowed us to re-post here for our audience.
