1977 Taylor Double Magnum Alert

[John Danza]

Hello all,

I don't know if this is the right forum to post this message to, so feel free to move it if it's out of place.

I just noticed that The Chicago Wine Company has two double magnums of 1977 Taylor in their next auction. Go to their website, http://www.tcwc.com, and look at auction 383 for details. I'm not affiliated with TCWC, but I am a happy customer. And they don't charge a buyer's premium. I'm not bidding on these because I'm tapped out right now. Otherwise, I would be all over these.

All the best,
John

[jdaw1]

Link to catalogue.

[Conky]

John,

I see these went for around the £250 mark. Now although I would have loved one, for its rarity, and kudos, you can pick up Taylors 77 for £60 regularly on Winesearcher, so the juice itself wasn't a bargain.
Is that unfair? Would it still be considered a bargain in the US? Do you generally pay a lot more for larger bottles, even though they are not exactly convenient for a Sunday evening quaff.

Alan

[mosesbotbol]

John,

I see these went for around the £250 mark. Now although I would have loved one, for its rarity, and kudos, you can pick up Taylors 77 for £60 regularly on Winesearcher, so the juice itself wasn't a bargain.
Is that unfair? Would it still be considered a bargain in the US? Do you generally pay a lot more for larger bottles, even though they are not exactly convenient for a Sunday evening quaff.

Alan

That's only £10 more than buying 4 bottles, does not seem like much or a setback all considered. Someone got a heck of deal who those double magnums. They look like a shirne in person!

[John Danza]

John,

I see these went for around the £250 mark. Now although I would have loved one, for its rarity, and kudos, you can pick up Taylors 77 for £60 regularly on Winesearcher, so the juice itself wasn't a bargain.
Is that unfair? Would it still be considered a bargain in the US? Do you generally pay a lot more for larger bottles, even though they are not exactly convenient for a Sunday evening quaff.

Alan

Hi Alan,

Generally speaking, at least in the U.S., bottle sizes other than 750ml always sell for a premium. If someone prices bottles based on the cost of the juice, they would never buy 375 ml or 1500 ml because the juice is always more expensive.

However, you have to consider the rarity of these bottles. I bought 3 of these from The Chicago Wine Company in the early 1990s, paying $720 for the lot of 3. I sold two of them in the late 1990s, getting over $900. I kept the third one because it was basically free at that point, intending to open it for a Wine & Food Society dinner. I did that in 2003. At the time I found out from Taylor Fladgate that there were probably about 100 of these made. Based on my tasting in 2003, in this format the 1977 Taylor may never die.

By the way, it wouldn't surprise me if the two bottles they sold last week were the two I sold back 8 years ago. How many of these could actually be floating around the U.S.?

All the best,
John