FT_Weekend_Magazine_-_April_4-5_2020

FT.COM/MAGAZINE APRIL 4/ 52020 41

AuctioneerssuchasHart

DavisHart,Christie’s,

Sotheby’sandZachysall

specialiseinwinewiththe

mostdesirablepedigrees

and,onehopes,they

areprettydemanding

intheirinquiriesabout

exactlywherethewine

hascomefromand

howitwasstored.

Forsmallerquantities

orratherlessgrand

names,WineBid.comand

Vinfolio.comareboth

worthapproaching.

InNewYork,several

restaurantshavemade

theirwinereputations

thankstoprivatewine

collections,either

consignedorsold

outright.Similarly,some

merchants,suchas

ItalianWineMerchantsor

ChambersStreetWines,

haveboughtwholecellars

fromindividualcollectors.

Therearealsospecialist

cellarmanagement

consultantssuchasChai

ConsultingandGrand

CruWineConsulting.

Searchonlinefor“wine

cellarmanagement”.

W

inecollectionshave

ahabitofgettingout

ofhand,asIoutlined

lastweek.Intheold

days,thosewhowantedtosell

surpluswinehadlittlechoice.

Itprettymuchhadtobeviaan

auctionrunbyeitherSotheby’s

orChristie’s,firstinLondonand

theninternationally.Bonhamsand

PhillipsjoinedthemintheUKby

openingwinedepartments.There

arenowauctioneersintheUS

(seebelow)andseveralmainland

Europeanauctionhousesthat

specialiseinsellingwine.

Buttodaytherearemultiple

otherwaysofsellingit,notleast

becauseChristie’sandSotheby’s

chargebuyersacommissionof

morethan20percent,inaddition

toavendors’commissionofabout

10 percent.Theauctionhouses

havebeensufferingasaresult.

IntheUK,whichhasprobably

regaineditspositionastheworld’s

finewinetradingcapitalnowthat

salesinHongKongarenolonger

boostedbyboomingdemandin

mainlandChina,themostpopular

wayforprivateindividualstosell

theirwinecollectionsisthrough

theoutfitstheyboughtthemfrom.

Backintheearly1980s,

LaRéserve(sincemorphedinto

Jeroboams)becamethefirst

Londonwinemerchanttoofferto

sellwineonbehalfofitscustomers,

takingthestandard10percent

commission.Ifcustomersofthe

bigtraditionalmerchantswanted

tosellsomewinebackthen,the

likesofBerryBros&Rudd,Corney

&BarrowandJusterini&Brooks

wouldsellitthroughoneofthe

auctionhousesandtakea3per

centcommissiononthesale.

Butasthenumberofpeople

investinginfinewinegrew,the

traditionalmerchantsrealised

theycouldmakemoneyproviding

amarketplacefortheirclients.

In1992,Corney&Barrowwas

thefirsttolaunchafully-fledged

brokingservice,offeringtosell

theircustomers’reservestoother

customers,whereverintheworld

theymightbe.Thishasbeenso

successfulthatithaswontwo

Queen’sAwardsforEnterprise.

Corney&Barrowhassince

beenfollowedintothislucrative

businessbyitspeers.Justerinis

claimstohave1,650unique

customersamonthtradingin

itsJustBrokingdivision,while

Berryslaysclaimto1,1 00 amonth

onitstradingplatformBBX.

Someonewhoaimstowipethe

floorwiththeseservicesisGary

BoomofBIWines.Hisin-house

softwaredevelopershavebeen

buildingaBILiveTradeplatform.

Boomclaimsitistheonlyone

thatoffersafirmcash-buying

priceaswellasasellingpricefor

whatheconsidersthe550most

“desirable”winesintheworld.

Theplatformalsoprovides

historicpricingdata,criticreviews,

scoresandsoon.Boomisso

convincedthisisthe“Uberoffine

winetrading”thathehasinvested

£5minbuildingtheplatform.

Vendorsofthesepopularlytraded

winesreceivealloftheadvertised

buyingprice,paynocommission

andarepromised“instanttrading

andexecutionandfastpayment”.

Boomsaysthenumberofwines

featuredwillincreaseandoffers

standardbrokingat10per

centcommissionforthosenot

includedinhismagical550.

BI’sgreatrivalasfinewine

traders,FarrVintners,alsodepends

heavilyontradingitscustomers’

reserves.The£400mworthof

customers’winestoredinFarr’s

bondedwarehouseprovidesabout

30 percentofallwinesoldbyFarr,

againon10percentcommission.

WhenfriendsintheUKaskabout

sellingtheirowncollections,▶

WhattheydointheUS

‘Themostpopularwayfor

individualstosellcollections

isthroughtheoutfitthey

boughtthemfrom’

AsimaginedbyLeonEdler

Howtojointhe winesellers

JancisRobinson

Investinginwine

Part2