Auctions

[maybs]

Auctions are dangerous to the wallet!

That is all

[Sipper]

I concur........

[catchnrelease]

I've been discouraged from auctions after people I know got bottles that were kept in less than satisfactory condition in their previous life. Let us know what you got/how they turned out.

[maybs]

Yeah Alex I thought I'd give it a go and just see if it works out well or not. Possibly got stuck with a bit more than planned, but only because I got it at prices I was happy with, so that's ok. Several of the lots are also under screwcap, which will hopefully help a little. None of it is older than '97 and most of it is in the 2000's so I am hoping it is in reasonable nick.

Time will tell. I will put a list up when someone starts a feb purchases thread, or I will do so a bit later

Since I had already bought a few other things Feb has become an expensive but satisfying month

Have worked out with the kitchen design guy I can't fit anything bigger than an under cabinet fridge in. Now for that telephone call to kennards...

[Duncan Disorderly]

I have been aware of the world of wine auctions for years, but I finally dipped my toe in last year. It wasn't long before I was fully immersed.

While I've certainly thrown some money at it, over all I've been pretty happy with the quality of the bottles and there have been some amazing bargains (like the two bottles of superb 1993 Wignalls Reserve Pinot Noir I picked up for about $15 prior to Xmas).

[ticklenow1]

I rarely bother with the auctions anymore unless I am chasing a particular wine. My cellar is starting to get a bit of age on it and after my last Langton's fiasco, I'm a bit turned off. I won some wine from a particular vintage that I was chasing and it wasn't delivered. So after 6 weeks I rang them and they said the vintage I won was not available and they offered me another. Fairly obvious they got a better price for it elsewhere (DM's perhaps?) and offered me an inferior vintage. I was fuming as I could have got the wine elsewhere but by the time I enquired again it was gone. Langtons will be hard pressed to get my business again. I even dodge the brokerage a bit now as well, just because of this experience.

Cheers
Ian

[Scotty vino]

Haven't dipped my toe into the auction realm yet. Been tempted quite a few times.
I always find I've got something else in the pipeline like a CD visit, VIP tasting or some kind of wine festival/ gourmet weekend sucking my wine funds away. I can see the attraction for birth year wines, heralded vintages, mile stones and collectors looking to complete a set.

[rosewaterwrx]

Hmm yes. Drinking whilst bidding online is a really bad idea for me. I got a bit carried away whilst having a really great time drinking what seems like gallons of wine and you-tubing various rock concerts up at a volume that would annoy the neighbors. Woke up in the morning to find I'd purchased a number of 04 Grange and an 04 DRC (it was an insurance sale, a cellar went partially under water). This right in the middle of trying to be frugal and renovate my home. I have had one bottle of the Grange and thankfully it was absolutely pristine but I am a bit annoyed at myself as I don't think i can flog any off at auction due to the wines being theoretically damaged

Lesson learnt...I hope. Probably not though.Hopefully any future regrets involve $50 wines though.

There is definitely something about the trill of bidding that inspires excited purchases that wouldn't happen if the same wine was sitting on a shelf for the same price in a store. thankfully having bought many many wines from auctions over the last 4 years or so i've had a very high success rate of well stored (or at least luckily in tact) wines. recently i drank a 1969 Tulloch Dry Red purchased for about $40 and it was amazing. I assumed it would be completely shot but no it was fantastic. Far and away the oldest wines I've had. The memory of which wouldn't leave me for days.

[VINH NGUYEN]

Hmm yes. Drinking whilst bidding online is a really bad idea for me. I got a bit carried away whilst having a really great time drinking what seems like gallons of wine and you-tubing various rock concerts up at a volume that would annoy the neighbors. Woke up in the morning to find I'd purchased a number of 04 Grange and an 04 DRC (it was an insurance sale, a cellar went partially under water). This right in the middle of trying to be frugal and renovate my home. I have had one bottle of the Grange and thankfully it was absolutely pristine but I am a bit annoyed at myself as I don't think i can flog any off at auction due to the wines being theoretically damaged

Lesson learnt...I hope. Probably not though.Hopefully any future regrets involve $50 wines though.

There is definitely something about the trill of bidding that inspires excited purchases that wouldn't happen if the same wine was sitting on a shelf for the same price in a store. thankfully having bought many many wines from auctions over the last 4 years or so i've had a very high success rate of well stored (or at least luckily in tact) wines. recently i drank a 1969 Tulloch Dry Red purchased for about $40 and it was amazing. I assumed it would be completely shot but no it was fantastic. Far and away the oldest wines I've had. The memory of which wouldn't leave me for days.

did u at least get them @ a good price? i would have taken a punt on grange and drc esp if the price was right

[rosewaterwrx]

Oh yes,I have no complaints about the price. $330 or so all up for the Grange and (from memory) about $350 for 04 DRC Echezeaux is fine by me. Especially as the one wine I have opened was magic.

That said I was a bit annoyed by my lack of discipline. Sometimes you have to show restraint and large spending whilst up to eyeballs in debt to cover reno's most certainly was not good timing...sigh

[Dennisr]

I belong to a gourmet club and I have been getting the wines from langtons and some graysonline.
The best thing about graysonline if you fund a couple of off bottles they will refund the purchase and most times not pick up the remaining bottles. With langtons I have not had a problem with any purchase even though they are owned by woolworths- buying old tassy Pinot has been the only bad experience.

[VINH NGUYEN]

Oh yes,I have no complaints about the price. $330 or so all up for the Grange and (from memory) about $350 for 04 DRC Echezeaux is fine by me. Especially as the one wine I have opened was magic.

That said I was a bit annoyed by my lack of discipline. Sometimes you have to show restraint and large spending whilst up to eyeballs in debt to cover reno's most certainly was not good timing...sigh

hard to show restraint when you get bargains like that given to you

[sjw_11]

I have spent plenty on auctions, in the past from langtons but mostly from oddbins - I probably have bought stuff mostly in the $20-30 range and often things unloved by others such as older rieslings, semillons etc which has generally been a successful course of action

Its good to allow you to drink some aged stuff while you wait for your cellar to mature (come on 2035 for those 2010 Wendourees to be ready!)

[grapeobserver]

I rarely bother with the auctions anymore unless I am chasing a particular wine. My cellar is starting to get a bit of age on it and after my last Langton's fiasco, I'm a bit turned off. I won some wine from a particular vintage that I was chasing and it wasn't delivered. So after 6 weeks I rang them and they said the vintage I won was not available and they offered me another. Fairly obvious they got a better price for it elsewhere (DM's perhaps?) and offered me an inferior vintage. I was fuming as I could have got the wine elsewhere but by the time I enquired again it was gone. Langtons will be hard pressed to get my business again. I even dodge the brokerage a bit now as well, just because of this experience.

Cheers
Ian

I must admit I was quite surprised to read this, as I hadn't anticipated that an auction house could deliver other than the wine purchased as described. I haven't reviewed their terms though. More usually for me it is restaurants that I watch for unflagged vintage changes (usually in favour of younger vintages). Almost universally though the latter humour me, as vintage, well, matters!

[sjw_11]

I rarely bother with the auctions anymore unless I am chasing a particular wine. My cellar is starting to get a bit of age on it and after my last Langton's fiasco, I'm a bit turned off. I won some wine from a particular vintage that I was chasing and it wasn't delivered. So after 6 weeks I rang them and they said the vintage I won was not available and they offered me another. Fairly obvious they got a better price for it elsewhere (DM's perhaps?) and offered me an inferior vintage. I was fuming as I could have got the wine elsewhere but by the time I enquired again it was gone. Langtons will be hard pressed to get my business again. I even dodge the brokerage a bit now as well, just because of this experience.

Cheers
Ian

I must admit I was quite surprised to read this, as I hadn't anticipated that an auction house could deliver other than the wine purchased as described. I haven't reviewed their terms though. More usually for me it is restaurants that I watch for unflagged vintage changes (usually in favour of younger vintages). Almost universally though the latter humour me, as vintage, well, matters!

Yeah this surprises me too - all auction results would normally be final unless you were buying from some "special" auction or perhaps the "exchange" which might have different T&C?? Had you paid for it already?

[ticklenow1]

I rarely bother with the auctions anymore unless I am chasing a particular wine. My cellar is starting to get a bit of age on it and after my last Langton's fiasco, I'm a bit turned off. I won some wine from a particular vintage that I was chasing and it wasn't delivered. So after 6 weeks I rang them and they said the vintage I won was not available and they offered me another. Fairly obvious they got a better price for it elsewhere (DM's perhaps?) and offered me an inferior vintage. I was fuming as I could have got the wine elsewhere but by the time I enquired again it was gone. Langtons will be hard pressed to get my business again. I even dodge the brokerage a bit now as well, just because of this experience.

Cheers
Ian

I must admit I was quite surprised to read this, as I hadn't anticipated that an auction house could deliver other than the wine purchased as described. I haven't reviewed their terms though. More usually for me it is restaurants that I watch for unflagged vintage changes (usually in favour of younger vintages). Almost universally though the latter humour me, as vintage, well, matters!

Yeah this surprises me too - all auction results would normally be final unless you were buying from some "special" auction or perhaps the "exchange" which might have different T&C?? Had you paid for it already?

That's what one would have thought. I had paid for it and waited almost 6 weeks for delivery until I rang them. I'm fairly certain that the wine would have gone elsewhere in the Woolworths empire as it was a popular wine from a good vintage that I got for a great price. It seemed I was the only bidder. They even asked me if I wanted to wait around until some of the vintage I wanted became available. To me the whole thing was a piss take and like I said, I won't be buying from Langtons anymore unless it is out of absolute having nowhere else to go. Even the brokerage prices are not that flash anymore and I'm steering fairly well clear of them as well.

Cheers
Ian

[Dennisr]

I would be contacting the consumer watchdog and letting them Langtons know you are not going to take that sort of BS.