ThePortForum.com

flash_uk wrote:

djewesbury wrote:

flash_uk wrote:There is definitely port in one of the Ferguson auctions. Must be the London one.

Edit: lots 9001 to 9008

Different auction. No such lot numbers in this catalogue, in HK, London or online.

This is the Christies one.

I have the catalogue in front of me. Fine and Rare Wines. Christie's. Hong Kong Saturday 24 May 2014. London Thursday 5 May 2014. Online Only 9–23 June 2014. Alec Ferguson's beaming face. No port.

They're clearly selling this in different sub-auctions. The question remains. Why DHL me a catalogue from Hong Kong, especially the one that doesn't have the port in it?

djewesbury wrote:

flash_uk wrote:

djewesbury wrote:

flash_uk wrote:There is definitely port in one of the Ferguson auctions. Must be the London one.

Edit: lots 9001 to 9008

Different auction. No such lot numbers in this catalogue, in HK, London or online.

This is the Christies one.

I have the catalogue in front of me. Fine and Rare Wines. Christie's. Hong Kong Saturday 24 May 2014. London Thursday 5 May 2014. Online Only 9–23 June 2014. Alec Ferguson's beaming face. No port.

They're clearly selling this in different sub-auctions. The question remains. Why DHL me a catalogue from Hong Kong, especially the one that doesn't have the port in it?

You mean 5 June? Pages 26 to 27 of the e catalogue. Maybe the printed one is different.

flash_uk wrote:

djewesbury wrote:

flash_uk wrote:

djewesbury wrote:

flash_uk wrote:There is definitely port in one of the Ferguson auctions. Must be the London one.

Edit: lots 9001 to 9008

Different auction. No such lot numbers in this catalogue, in HK, London or online.

This is the Christies one.

I have the catalogue in front of me. Fine and Rare Wines. Christie's. Hong Kong Saturday 24 May 2014. London Thursday 5 May 2014. Online Only 9–23 June 2014. Alec Ferguson's beaming face. No port.

They're clearly selling this in different sub-auctions. The question remains. Why DHL me a catalogue from Hong Kong, especially the one that doesn't have the port in it?

You mean 5 June? Pages 26 to 27 of the e catalogue. Maybe the printed one is different.

Yes. It is! That is my point!
I know it's a bank holiday but honestly…

djewesbury wrote:

flash_uk wrote:

djewesbury wrote:

flash_uk wrote:There is definitely port in one of the Ferguson auctions. Must be the London one.

Edit: lots 9001 to 9008

Different auction. No such lot numbers in this catalogue, in HK, London or online.

This is the Christies one.

I have the catalogue in front of me. Fine and Rare Wines. Christie's. Hong Kong Saturday 24 May 2014. London Thursday 5 May 2014. Online Only 9–23 June 2014. Alec Ferguson's beaming face. No port.

They're clearly selling this in different sub-auctions. The question remains. Why DHL me a catalogue from Hong Kong, especially the one that doesn't have the port in it?

They probably just lump your habits of buying port into the general category of "wine buyer" rather than getting more specific.


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They've clearly got money to burn. I'm hardly a top customer.

I've just realised, à propos flash's attempts to enlighten me (and see also, above, my stubborn refusal to be enlightened) that the thing they've spent so much money sending me by courier half-way around the world is not the catalogue at all. It's just an amuse-bouche, if your idea of having your bouche amused involves a lot of pictures of Alex Ferguson gurning about looking pleased with himself. It is a catalogue-sized, catalogue-format, catalogue-shaped, high gloss, poncey appetite whetter. If I want the full catalogue presumably I still have to shell out for it.

Why?

I've been told Sworders next sale in July (catalogue not yet published) has no fewer than 19 magnums of Offley '63

I don't think I've ever seen an Offley magnum before, and '63 magnums are pretty rare. I gather they are being offered as two lots of six and one of seven..

djewesbury wrote:Why?

I would suggest the following;
1) to provide you with a world class opportunity to be amusing about Alex Ferguson.
2) to allow you to vent frustrations which would otherwise be exercised on your nearest and dearest.
3) in the mistaken belief that you are the sort of person who enjoys being bombarded with the lives of the rich and famous, who are supposed to be intrinsically interesting to people who aren't.

I should also add that I would prefer 'gueule' to 'bouche', I feel it has a certain cachet, and 'to amuse the muzzle' sounds better in translation.

My own experience of being chased around involved some fairly desultory research into Japanese woodblock prints, I still get stuff through the post and all my Internet pages have adverts for the same all over them. Never bought a thing from any of them.

Now do I really need a magnum of Offley 63...

uncle tom wrote:I've been told Sworders next sale in July (catalogue not yet published) has no fewer than 19 magnums of Offley '63

I don't think I've ever seen an Offley magnum before, and '63 magnums are pretty rare. I gather they are being offered as two lots of six and one of seven..

Ooo! Tom - would you be willing to act as our buying agent? I'd love a couple of these please - or maybe even more!

Ooo! Tom - would you be willing to act as our buying agent? I'd love a couple of these please - or maybe even more!

No probs - anyone else interested?

Yes probably, depending on likely price obviously.

Price conversations privately, please.

I participated in an online auction that concluded this weekend, and am taking home 20 bottles of 1986 Gm ($27 per, all in) and 12 of 1985 G ($53 all in).

Feeling pretty good about the execution. Love both these wines and always looking to add at agreeable prices.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

At the GM vertical in 2010 GM86 was much liked.

jdaw1 wrote:At the GM vertical in 2010 GM86 was much liked.

Yes, and I first got exposed to it at a TPF event of some kind (but no record listed on the tasting notes thread?). I also have a stash of 375s, the first of which earned a monster score. http://www.theportforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=55894

Frankly, given how much I've enjoyed the Gm and Fg, I'm not sure how far behind I would rank '86 from '85. The Tv86 certainly, I've preferred to the T85.

Wooooo!!

My local auction house, http://www.curranddewar.com/auction-lis ... 0&mrows=40 , has a double magnum of Taylors 1976 lbv in their next sale. Does anyone know if this is filtered or unfiltered and will it be past it's best by now? Will buy it anyway if it sells near estimate but don't want to overpay if it's likely to be disapointing.

My local auction house, http://www.curranddewar.com/auction-lis ... 0&mrows=40 , has a double magnum of Taylors 1976 lbv in their next sale. Does anyone know if this is filtered or unfiltered and will it be past it's best by now? Will buy it anyway if it sells near estimate but don't want to overpay if it's likely to be disapointing.

I've yet to see a Taylor unfiltered LBV, so I think you can be pretty sure this is going to be filtered, and by now, probably very tired - although it will almost certainly be drinkable.

Think of this as a fun item - something to turn into a bedside lamp or stick a candle in after you've emptied it.

- I won't be bidding!

uncle tom wrote:

My local auction house, http://www.curranddewar.com/auction-lis ... 0&mrows=40 , has a double magnum of Taylors 1976 lbv in their next sale. Does anyone know if this is filtered or unfiltered and will it be past it's best by now? Will buy it anyway if it sells near estimate but don't want to overpay if it's likely to be disapointing.

I've yet to see a Taylor unfiltered LBV, so I think you can be pretty sure this is going to be filtered, and by now, probably very tired - although it will almost certainly be drinkable.

Think of this as a fun item - something to turn into a bedside lamp or stick a candle in after you've emptied it.

- I won't be bidding!

Thanks, knew recent Taylor's lbv was filtered but know nothing about any lbv from 70s.

mpij wrote:Thanks, knew recent Taylor's lbv was filtered but know nothing about any lbv from 70s.

Taylor's LBV has been filtered since they commercialised the style with their 1965. Part of the concept at the time was to have a vintage-style wine that could be popped and poured without decanting.

I have had the 1965, which wasn't a joy to behold, and a magnum of something from the 70s (76 I think) that was acceptable drinking but a bit stewed.

Don't pay lots for it and you will not be tood disappointed when you open it

So, group bid for the 6 rather good looking bottles of NN63 in the Sotheby's Finest and Rarest sale on the 19th?

djewesbury wrote:So, group bid for the 6 rather good looking bottles of NN63 in the Sotheby's Finest and Rarest sale on the 19th?

If they achieve the same sort of prices at Christies did last week, expect these to go for £7,000-9,000 per bottle!

But I might be interested. Perhaps. Probably not though.

As some of you may know, as a 1963 baby I love drinking port from that vintage. The highest profile shipper I have not yet tasted is Smith Woodhouse and in the last 15 years I have never seen a bottle offered for sale privately, through auction or at retail.

Last week, Charterhouse Auctions included a lot described as "Three bottles of Smith Woodhouse Vintage Port, 1963, and a bottle of Graham's Port". Since I was working close to their auction house I popped over at lunchtime to look at the bottles and perhaps leave a commission bid. I was rather shocked at what I found. I consider is disingenuous for an auction house to be lazy, sloppy or downright misleading in their cataloguing. Within 30 seconds of looking at the four bottles in the lot I identified that the lot contained 2 identical bottles with blue foils with one of them having a detached Smith Woodhouse 1963 label held on with an elastic band. The third bottle was Fonseca 1963 (identified by reading the branding on the cork through the pale glass) and the last bottle was Graham 1970 (identified from the stamp embossed into the wax seal). Whether the two identical bottles really are Smith Woodhouse 1963 or not, who knows. This was either sloppy or lazy cataloguing.

But what really wound me up was some of the other lots I looked at.

Lot 1061 was 4 bottles of Cockburn 1963. These had clearly been leaking, the corks had shrunk and were probably only held in place by the wax. I couldn't read the corks and there was no other identification on the bottles so goodness knows how these were identified.

Lot 1064 was described as "A bottle of Dow's Vintage Port, 1963, and four other bottles of port". The Dow was in good condition. The others were not. Again the corks had been allowed to dry out and shrink. None had fallen in, but none were providing a seal. I winced when I heard that had sold for about £280 inc. BP.

And lot 1069 was "Two bottles of Constantino's Vintage Port, 1945, both levels very low, a bottle of Roederer champagne, and one other bottle". Only if you asked for a condition report were you told that the Constantino bottles were both about half full with the cork of one visible floating in the liquid. At least these sold for a price which reflected the risk - £100 inc BP.

Some of the lots were very poor condition and really should have been rejected or at least fully disclosed. Anyone looking to buy these bottles for future drinking should have been made aware of the enhanced risk associated with these bottles - it looked to me as though most had been stored standing up for many years.

It's disappointing, but just underlines how important it is to inspect bottles rather than just rely on the competence and integrity of the auction house's wine expert.

Crikey. A few of us noticed that this was a rather strangely worded catalogue: did it not include '100 other lots of wine' with no further specification? The 'wine expert' at Charterhouse should really be held to account for this.

Do auction houses fall under trading standards legislation/regulation? If so it might be worth a phone call or letter to point the authorities in the direction of this catalogue.

Mmm..I took a spur of the moment decision to secure one of the lots (on-line) at Charterhouse for £90-sounds like I shouldn't expect too much!!