NZ Auction Scene / Secondary Market?

[JamieBahrain]

Does anyone have experience with the auction scene in NZ? It's hard to find older wines retail.

Be interested if anybody can provide a bit of a run down?

[cuttlefish]

Webb’s auction house seems to be where a bit of the action takes place.

[brodie]

Does anyone have experience with the auction scene in NZ? It's hard to find older wines retail.

Be interested if anybody can provide a bit of a run down?

I have used all four auction houses in NZ for more than 10 years. Generally my bottle failure rate is about the same as buying on release, i.e. very low. NZ is cooler and if you are buying old world wines, mostly have been stored in passive under the house cellars. I buy at auction in NZ with confidence. If you tell me what category of wines you are considering buying at auction in NZ I can give more specific advice.

In Auckland there is;

Fitzgerald Wine Auctions: https://www.fitzgeraldwine.co.nz/

Managed by Francis Fitzgerald, monthly or bimonthly auctions, online bidding only, easy to use interface, good selection, no issues. If you contact Francis directly she will be pretty straight with you about provenance.
frances@fitzgeraldwine.co.nz

Webbs: https://www.webbs.co.nz/departments/fine-and-rare-wines/

Been around a long time, got bought by an aussie firm which then went bankrupt and took them down. kiwi directors revived the firm with new capital and it is doing well again. Marcus Atkinson is the wine director. Good selection, combined live and online auctions, interface ok but a wee bit clunky. About every two months frequency

The Wine Auction Room: https://www.wineauctionroom.com/

Run by Reece Warren, who left Webbs when they went under and started his own wine auction business. Has been operating for around 2 years and has done well. Reece is a wine lover himself and so is reasonably careful about provenance and bottle condition issues. Auctions are mostly online only and interface is good. Either monthly or bimonthly auctions. reece@wineauctionroom.co.nz

Dunbar Sloane: https://www.dunbarsloane.co.nz/

Wellington based, about four auctions a year. Live auctions with the ability to make remote bids via a bidding form. No online auctions and can be a bit tricky to figure out best bidding strategy. That said, sometimes the place for best bargains. Good experience with older bdx. Have not bought from them for a couple of years , but have had no issues in the past.

Cheers Brodie

[JamieBahrain]

Hi Brodie,

Thanks for the summary. I'll start having a peep.

It will be general buying- foreign too. However, I did notice a dearth of old Kiwis retail. Prices seemed high at one of the auction sites.

[Mark S]

Good to get this info on the NZ auctions, Brodie - I've been involved in wine auctions in Oz for many years, and was (briefly) dealing with Mossgreen shortly before they went under (probably lucky I didn't get stung!)
Been curious about the NZ scene for years. My interstate experiences have generally gone well, and I'd be keenly interested to put my toe in NZ waters, both as buyer and as vendor.
I've found the peripherals (Freight, insurance, packaging, buyers commissions and vendor commissions) can be substantial barriers to flexiiblity and success, more so if you're concentrating on the lower range market Eg under $80/bottle. Dealing in the higher end stuff Eg $300/bottle upwards the peripherals become far less important.
I would be most interested to know what these four auction houses charge by way of commission, freight charges per dozen box between Aust & NZ, & transparency - price realizations, and how accurately they describe/photograph the condition of sales stock. If these prove to be manageable, I could easily see myself becoming a buyer and a vendor with one or more of these houses.