Demand has returned to market place based on solid bidding and clearances at Oddbins Wine Auctions April 11 auction. Commenting on the outcome of this large sale, Merrilyn Middleton said, “It certainly was an intriguing sale for us, not only did we have in excess of 2800 lots on offer, but we also had three very unique collections for going under the hammer.” Ms Middleton was referring to a large collection of heat damaged wines, an extensive collection classic Bordeaux and Burgundies and an impressive array of single malt whiskies.
Ms Middleton went onto to say that, “At first, we thought these collections may overshadow our usual lots on offer but in the end we found that demand was pretty constant across the entire catalogue.” At this early stage in the auction season, Oddbins is reporting a gradual but positive return in demand for both collectable and drinkable Australian and imported wines. “Bidding appears to be stronger and clearance rates are definitely on the up” she said.
This now provides Oddbins with a pleasing dilemma, as they now require more stock. Oddbins co director Graham Wright stated that, “The market place is definitely on the prowl for good vintages of Australian collectables including Grange. But what has also been noticeable is the considerable interest shown in historic wines from the pre- 1960 era, but they have to be in good condition.”
He went onto to say that there was noticeable upturn in interest in the wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy and in modern Australian wineries such as Giaconda, Mitchells of Clare, Mount Mary, Petaluma, Torbreck and Wynns Coonawarra Estates. Graham also pointed out that certain specific brands also attracted Oddbins buyer’s attention, such as Hardys Eileen shiraz, Henschke Keyneton Estate, Leeuwin chardonnay, especially from the superb 2001 vintage, Moss Wood cabs, Orlando premium reds and Rockford’s super premium Single Vineyard Series shiraz.
Oddbins also commented on the return of interest in previously challenging brands such as Mountadam reds and chardonnays, Primo Estate’s Modal cabernet, Noon’s Reserve cabernets and not surprisingly both table and fortified wines from 1956. But both directors cautioned that buyers were still mainly looking for stronger brands and importantly were still looking for wines in pristine condition.
On the imported front, the inclusion of a large amount of fine and rare Bordeaux and Burgundy certainly excited the market place. Graham found the interest shown in the 1997 Bordeaux’s particularly pleasing, “This has been a very much misunderstood vintage from Bordeaux, with far too many commentators and the drinking public alike quite ready to dismiss this good vintage without actually trying them. We had a look at a couple of examples and found them to be pleasingly tasty and basically ready to drink in the short to medium term.”
Clearance rates for all Penfolds products was close to average with strong clearances for good Grange, 1996 & ’98 Bin 707 and most vintages of Bin 128, 28 and 389. The Good Grange Index, Oddbins guide to the performance of the Grange market, was down 3pts to 106 pts based on some bargain hunting on the famed 1986 vintage. The market was relatively quiet on Yattarna and RWT.
Commenting on the state of the Grange market, Ms Middleton said, “Condition is everything, as we saw in 2005, collectors as opposed to consumers, are looking for these wines to be in pristine condition, and with older more historic vintages, if they are in good condition our buyers are quite prepared to pay good money for them.”
By the time you are reading this report, Penfold’s would have released the much anticipated 2001 Grange. Both Oddbins directors had the privilege of trying the new Grange along with other Penfold’s premium releases at a special dinner held at Penfold’s Magill Estate restaurant this month.
And the verdict? According to both Graham and Merrilyn, the wine was splendid and a welcome return to form after the challenging 2000 vintage. Graham found it to be, “So focussed and precise…a wine with amazing length” while Merrilyn commented on wine’s ability to beguile the taster in its youth yet showing such great structure that will ensure its graceful maturation over a considerable amount of time.
Oddbins expects the secondary market will open with prices approaching $500 per bottle. Other Penfolds new releases to look out for include the stunning second release of the 2005 Eden Valley Gewurztraminer (be warned only 200 cases made), the rather luscious 02 St Henri, the dryly intense 03 Magill and the densely opulent 03 RWT.
One of the major dilemmas to confront Oddbins in April was the sale of the Insurance Claim collection that had been damaged by heat. “Such a crying shame to see such an impressive collection apparently damaged by excessive heat.” Graham was commenting on the state of the collection when it arrived into the warehouse last month. “So many pushed corks, badly stained labels and weeping corks,” he said.
Oddbins initial concerns were further thrown into disarray when the Oddbins team plus a few valued customers tasted five examples from the collection. “Initially I thought there would have been obvious signs of heat damage, things like the palate being disjointed, a jammy, cooked fruit note on both the nose and palate, acid and alcohol being out of balance,” Graham said. “But when we tasted the five, I was surprised that what we thought would be obvious problems did not show up at all. This as you could imagine, posed a dilemma for us, as we didn’t know how to correctly advise our customers.”
In the end, Oddbins let the buyers be aware of the conditions this collection was stored under, priced the wines accordingly and were open and honest with all queries regarding the sale. The sale eventually attracted considerable attention, with a higher than expected clearance rate, as buyers were keen to secure some very rare European wines from some of the best vintages at very keen prices.
“The consensus of opinion was that in the short term, even badly heat affected wines will provide a degree of enjoyment,” stated Merrilyn Middleton, who went onto to say, “However, our buyers were definitely of the opinion that long term storage is just plainly out of the question.”
If you would like to know more about the role of heat and light damage on wines, look out for The Australian Wine Institute’s Technical Note TN09, “The effects of heat and light on wine during storage”.
One of the major trends picked in early 2006 trading is reluctance of buyers to purchase wine in magnums. Graham commented that, “Maybe it’s a case that many modern wine cellars and storage cabinets just can’t hold these large format bottles or maybe it’s a case that consumers just don’t like having these big bottles on their dining room tables. It’s all a bit of mystery.”
In terms of long term storage, magnums offer a better prospect than 750ml bottles, taking marginally longer to mature which makes them less prone to variability in maturation. And when all is said and done, when you open up that perfectly mature last bottle, isn’t it always a delight to know it holds 1500ml rather than 750ml?
So until May 30th, Oddbins wishes you strong bidding.
Cheers,
From The ever reliable and excitable Team at
Oddbins Wine Auctions