tips for a successful wine auction purchase

Tips for a Successful Wine Auction Purchase: Look for the Red Flags Your Seller May Have Missed

Sometimes, sellers will put a bad wine case up for auction without realizing there’s anything wrong with it. Take premox for example; unless you open one of the bottles, it’s not immediately apparent when a case of wine has been impacted. A collector might naively invest in a vintage that’s notorious for premox problems, keep…

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How to Avoid Buying Prematurely Oxidized Wines at Auction

How to Avoid Buying Prematurely Oxidized Wines at Auction

Premature oxidation (premox) catches even the most seasoned wine collectors by surprise, and it’s easy to accidentally invest in an oxidized case at auction. Collector Billy Grippo has an expansive collection containing several thousand bottles at a time, and even he’s fallen victim to premox wines. Grippo explains, “A lot of people put their wines…

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2010 Pegau Chateauneuf du Pape

Hidden Gem of the Month: 2010 Pegau Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee da Capo Is Ready for a Popularity Boom

I often take for granted the fact that I am a relatively young collector. When I see that a wine will last 30 or more years in a cellar, I’m giddy with excitement; I know I’ll get to see that wine evolve completely and reach peak maturity. However, older collectors view these long-lived wines differently.…

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identifying premature oxidation white burgundy

Identifying Premature Oxidation in Wines: The Flaw That Has the White Burgundy Market in an Uproar

Wine collector Billy Grippo opened his first premox bottle about eight years ago, when he was out to dinner with friends. He brought along a fantastic Leflaive 2002 Chevalier-Montrachet that he thought would be incredible in its old age, but when he poured the first glass, it looked nothing like the rich, straw-colored liquid he…

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Unicorn Wines: 2005 Clos Rougeard Is the Loire Wine of the Future

As I said before about the legendary 1986 Henri Jayer Richebourg, I’m supremely picky about which wines I consider true “unicorns;” they should be rare, old, age-worthy, and historically significant. Although 2005 Clos Rougeard Saumur Champigny is still relatively young by fine wine standards, I consider it one of the few mid-2000s wines to have…

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