Cruel cruel Langtons......

[grhm1961]

I've never had any problems with Langtons; that said I choose my purchases carefully thus minimising the risk.As for the site freezing, there's no way you can be sure the problem was Langtons, but in any case, yes, when I desperately want a wine I will put in my max bid early, otherwise you just have to accept that you may be outbid at the last moment, or the site may freeze, or any of a number of things..!

[Mahmoud Ali]

You may well be right about bidding strategies as I rarely bid on wine auctions, in fact only twice, both on Australian auction sites.

Just today I bumped into a friend in a wine store. We both talked about how little wine we needed based on our history of cellaring, buying early and often in our wine odyssey and later, with the luxury of our collection, only buying when we found a good deal. He walked out of the store with a tequila for a friend, a $100 bottle on sale for $50, and I left with a several bottles of single malts, two for my friends and one for myself, also at almost at half price.

Having a cellar is one of the greatest luxuries of a wine enthisiast, but that is best left for another thread.

[Waiters Friend]

You may well be right about bidding strategies as I rarely bid on wine auctions, in fact only twice, both on Australian auction sites.

Just today I bumped into a friend in a wine store. We both talked about how little wine we needed based on our history of cellaring, buying early and often in our wine odyssey and later, with the luxury of our collection, only buying when we found a good deal. He walked out of the store with a tequila for a friend, a $100 bottle on sale for $50, and I left with a several bottles of single malts, two for my friends and one for myself, also at almost at half price.

Having a cellar is one of the greatest luxuries of a wine enthisiast, but that is best left for another thread.

100% correct, Mahmoud. I stopped buying at auctions at least 3 years ago, and there's been too many times when a winery that I buy from regularly offers me museum releases (usually at 5 years of age) for 40-50% more than I paid when they were current vintage.

However, when the winery is large enough (e.g. Tahbilk) to offer verticals, then that is a different matter. Occasionally, I use this to fill some gaps in my collection.

At the other end of the scale, I recently bought a dozen bottles from a Ferguson Valley (yes, Geographe, WA) producer of riesling (what? in the Ferguson Valley?) that included 10 consecutive vintages (and yes, I've tried and cellared their wines before, hence the buy). Good for dinner parties, where you want to pair your entree with three vintages of the same wine.

All of this goes to prove that having a cellar, and the "drink older, buy young" practice works.

Cheers
Allan

[Michael R]

I've never had any problems with Langtons; that said I choose my purchases carefully thus minimising the risk.As for the site freezing, there's no way you can be sure the problem was Langtons, but in any case, yes, when I desperately want a wine I will put in my max bid early, otherwise you just have to accept that you may be outbid at the last moment, or the site may freeze, or any of a number of things..!

Great post. Certainly would reflect my thoughts anyway!

[Manno]

Langtons did confirm the problem was internal and the site issue will definitey make me rethink how i bid. But regardless of when i decide to bid, the possibility of being outbid in the last minute remains. That risk is always there. And the notion that my max bid of $100 will win simply because it was early and my max is just not the case. In fact its more likely to be the opposite. With the exception of site issues preventing bidding. I agree with polymer and diddy. Watching an auction creep up over a few days, having it reach and exceed your max, then having time to convince yourself that your max wasnt actually your max would be a problem with me, and i expect im not alone here...

As for “buy young, drink old” its certainly something im practising now. It makes obvious sense. The winery also said their 2015 Alices was very close to the 05. So i grabbed some. And thats great, in 15 years time i may have a similar wine to the 05 to enjoy. But i would like to have something to drink now too. And as much as id love to jump in the delorean and buy some young 05....

[Polymer]

Well from your standpoint, you should try to bid your absolute max...but it is the OTHER people that won't where bidding at the last minute helps. It just doesn't give people enough time to re-think their max bid...plus it takes out all of the people that don't even bid their max anyways (which is still a good number of people).

Either way, you will have more opportunities to get this wine..it isn't that hard to find...and there are certainly wines around that time frame that are similar in style...04 Alices, some of the Apricot blocks, even 7 Acre...they're not the same wine but you might even find something you like better...

[Manno]

Yeah i might start using a combination of the two strategies. Bid early, bid my “max” and then if i get a case of losers regret i can bid my MAX max at the last minute.

There were some 04’s in that massive vendor lot Polymer. Was tempted to try them too but ended up going with what i knew. But your right, i should try a few Apricots or Seven Acres. Im sure id like them just as much. Having said that though, the more enthusiastic i become about imported wine the less i find i miss those Alices.....