Acker Merrall & Condit – Back to School II: Part 1

This will be my bread and butter. I’m much more familiar with wine than I am with spirits. Here we have an auction from Acker Merrall & Condit on September 10th and 12th. The Thursday event is at night at River Park and the Saturday auction starts at 9:30AM at Marea. If you can make it, it’s always fun to go in person.

A note on Acker Merrall. Recently, they’ve drawn some heat over their involvement with Rudy Kurniawan. I can’t comment on that as I don’t have any new information, but they are a reputable auction house and as always, you just want to be careful with what you buy and bid on. There are fakes and almost every auction house has seen them. I’m sure many of them have accidentally listed such lots. Maureen Downey is a bit dramatic and it benefits her business the more people believe there are fakes out there. I think a lot of what she says is very extreme and you’re likely to be safe most of the time. These houses base their livelihood on their reputation and they have a lot to lose by listing fake lots, certainly more than they have to gain.

First off, I find the catalogs a bit cumbersome to deal with in preparation and I prefer to work off of the excel sheets. Acker conveniently places the excel sheet for download on the page, so I would start off with that. Get a copy of the physical catalog as it’s good for notes, but it’s much easier to look at a lot of lots on an excel sheet compared with a catalog. If you need to do currency conversion, it is very convenient and also lets you include in your buyers premium.

Another thing to note is that the condition of the bottles here is in short hand. Here is a link to what they mean in English, courtesy of BPW Merchants.

If you have any questions, you can email me at gcoldberg at gmail.com

This will be two posts, one for each day of the auction. I will link to my posts on the wine makers and the regions throughout and at the bottom of the page. If I haven’t written a writeup on the region or the winemaker, check back later or email me with questions.

With that out of the way let’s get to the lots. With wine, we have a greater variety of producers, but I will single out a few who I enjoy and I think will be reasonably priced offerings of their wine for sale during this auction. The lots I have picked are from Barolo, Bourdeaux, Burgundy, and Chateauneuf de Pape.

Day 1:

Lot 30 – B. Clavelier  Chambolle Musigny 2010

This lot of B. Clavelier comes with the original cardboard boxes and is from their property in Combe des Orveau. It is marketed as Vieilles Vignes, meaning these are old vines. If you acquire this lot at the low estimate, you’re getting these bottles for roughly $100 per bottle after tax. Still expensive for wine, but definitely a great price for this maker.

Lot 36-39 – G. Roumier Chambolle Musigny (2008-2012)

These four lots are 12 bottle lots of the famed maker G. Roumier. Known for exceedingly high quality wines, the family has had very close connections with de Vogüé for many years. Again, these are close to the $100 dollar per bottle point like the Claveliers, making these a great buy for this quality of wine. These are just Village level, but They can still surprise with the quality that they demonstrate. Each of these lots is for a different year.

Lot 149 – G. Roumier Morey-Saint-Denis 7 bottle vertical

This next lot is from G. Roumier’s monopole Premier Cru in Morey-Saint-Denis, Clos de la Bussiere. At $750 for the lot, these are again around that same price point. This is a vertical lot, meaning that the bottles are from different vintages. It would make for a great tasting event.

Lot 208 – Comte de Vogüé Chambolle Musigny 6 bottle vertical

While this lot may be a tough sell to your wife, it is quite a steal. If we see it at the low end of the estimate, you are getting one of the top makers in Burgundy for only a bit over $100 a bottle. De Vogüé rarely disappoints and again, while these are just Village wines, they are older and would make for a great party. Again, another vertical.

Lot 371 – Faiveley Chambertin and Clos Vougeot

It is lots like this that can be interesting. At the current estimate, it is not very tempting. It is just too much wine to buy in a single lot at this price. But, if it goes below the estimate, then it quickly becomes very interesting. It could be a hard lot for the house to sell, so a smart bidder might enjoy that opportunity. A fantastic maker, at the right price, this becomes a steal.

Lot 423 – Chateau Branaire Ducru 24 bottles 2010 owc

This is great. 24 bottles at roughly $50 a bottle. Here things are starting to get interesting. A bit young to start drinking it, but this is a good price for this fantastic maker.

Lot 424 – Chateau Brane Cantanec  24 bottles 2010 owc

Same deal as above. It’s not First growth, so it doesn’t get as much attention as other Bordeaux wines, but make no mistake, this is a very high quality wine. It will never get the attention it deserves because of the classification system, but let’s take that to our advantage. This comes from the AOC of Margaux, home of the famous Chateau.

Lot 425 – Chateau Calon Segur 95 17 bottles

This Chateau was once owned by the man who owned Lafitte and Latour. He said so many fantastic things about this Chateau. This again is where the value is. It already has age on it and is ready to drink. If you can buy it at these prices, what is not to love.

Lot 426 – Calon Segur 2003 12 bottles

See above.

Lot 437 – Haut Bergey  2009 36 bottles

Here is another interesting lot. 6 years of age and 36 bottles. After taxes, this would come to 44 a bottle. Another great property in Bourdeaux and definitely a good price for it. 2009 was a great year in Bordeaux.

Lot 467 – Pavie Macquin 2005 12 bottles

Wow. What a lot. 2005 Bordeaux is not cheap and this is a case still with the original wooden case. Located in Saint-Émilion, this is one of the three Pavie estates. It rose to Premier Grand Cru Classé B in 2006, but don’t there is no doubt that 2005 was great for this house. This is a great price for this case.

Lot 473 and 474 – Ponet Canet 2005 12 bottles

Two interesting wines from Ponet Canet. This is a Fifth growth wine. Very good prices for per bottle. Again, 2005 was a great year in Bordeaux and it was hard to make a bad wine. The 2008 I am less familiar with, but given the quantity of bottles, these could be a great buy for the right person.

483 and 484 – Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc 2010 12 bottle lots

Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc is one of my favorite white wines. A legendary producer of white wine, this is perhaps my top choice of white from Bourdeaux. At ~$100 per bottle, this is about market value for this wine. If it goes a bit below, snatch it up!

Lot 515 – Thibault Liger-Belair 24 bottles mixed

This is the type of lot I am more likely to bid on. At roughly ~$50 per bottle from a legendary maker, these are of value. These already have a bit of age and are going to only get better. Definitely one of my favorite lots from day one. This is a lot of their offerings from two different Premiere Crus from two different communes.