Oddbins Wine Auction’s W553 auction was just about as average as we could expect: an average clearance rate along with within guide hammer prices paid for most lots For what is still a relatively slow to flat auction market, we were pretty happy with this state of affairs. What was noticeable was that there appears to be a degree of conservatism appearing in the market place, with little room to explore some of the more exotic offerings or newly released premium offerings on show.
The auction world is still dominated by full-bodied Aussie red, especially shiraz and with Penfold’s still being the dominant brand. Whites still remain the poor wine partner in the secondary market, but with Spring around the corner, the crisp dry white or intriguingly complex full bodied whites will soon attract attention in the auction market.
Pleasingly this month, clearance rates for Imperfect Grange were well above expectation and maybe, just maybe, the buying public have finally woken up to the fact that you can buy slightly damaged Grange at bargain basement prices. The label maybe rough but it still tastes of Grange.
This auction’s Top Bid went to Krug’s Clos du Mesnil, which fetched a hammer price of $515, closely followed by the famed 1983 Ch d’Yquem which achieved $505. And mentioned should be made of the glorious Pol Roger 1990, in magnum, fetching $320.
Other notable hammer prices included: Cullen Reserve Cabernet Merlot 1993 going for $190, Giaconda Chardonnay 1996 for $165, Rockford SVS Pressings 1998 achieving $225 and a 1995 Confuron Romanee St Vivant Grand Cru which achieved a respectable hammer price of $305.
Other noticeable auction achievers were the wines of Bass Phillip and Kiwi super stars Dry River, Felton Road and Gibbston Reserves. Giaconda chardonnay attracted some attention, as did Yalumba’s Signature blend. There was also a welcome return to auction form for Wynn’s John Riddochs and special mention should be made of the keen bidding interest shown in the Barossa heavyweight Kaesler’s Old Bastard - $182.
There was also intense bidding on Penfold’s Block 42 - $350 and considerable interest shown in some older vintages of Blass Black, Grey and Brown label red blends. Overall, wines from Bleasdale, Cimicky, Elderton, Moss Wood, Wynns and Greenock Creek Blocks cleared well. Mixed lots of both budget reds and whites also cleared well and there was also an upsurge in interest in the Commercial offerings.
From the Penfold’s stable the W553 auction resulted in good clearances of Bins 389, 407, the Imperfect Grange category, RWT and St Henri’s. But buyers did shy away from previous strong performers such as Penfolds Bin 707 and late vintage Grange, especially from the 1999 vintage. However the classic vintages of 1986 and 1998 are once again attracting buyer’s attention achieving hammer prices of $380 and $420 respectively.
For most of the Grange lots on offer, bidding was still tending towards the bottom end of the published guides with most interest shown in pre 1980 vintages. However, good hammer prices for the key 1986 vintage drove Oddbins Good Grange Index up by 8pts to 105pts.
Buyers are still remaining careful about what they buy and how much they spend at auction, as they still show a degree of volatility in their purchasing habits. So for this auction there was a slight slowing down in offerings from Balgownie Estate, Dalwhinnie, Fox Creek, somewhat surprisingly Henschke’s Mt Edelstone shiraz, from newcomer Mitolo, Mountadam, Torbreck, two Yalumba premiums, The Menzies and Octavius and Veritas’ much vaunted Hanisch shiraz.
The clearance rate for provenance tagged wines (where Oddbins indicates wines coming from known good cellars) was also down for the month. So still after 6 months of tagging such wines, clearance rates have not reflected any particular buyer preference for tagged or non-tagged wines. More about this next month.
And finally, a cautionary tale: for all owners of Rockford’s impressive Black Sparkling Shiraz, please go and have a close look at the capsules. For some unknown reason we have been presented with a number of examples that are slightly weeping and from a variety of vintages. Interestingly a number of these examples have come from good cellars.
In fact all wines should be periodically inspected for signs of wear and tear and importantly, signs of leakage, during their time in your cellar as this may quite drastically and adversely affect the value of your prized possessions. A little checking, no matter how annoying could save some heartache in the future.
So until our September W554 wine auction, all of us at Oddbins Wine Auctions wish you strong bidding.
Graham Wright
and the ever reliable but excitable team at Oddbins