Which wines are sell-able?
While the vast majority of wine that’s out there doesn’t have any demand in the secondary market – it usually doesn’t hurt to ask (you can send us an email with your list and we can take a look). Also, in whole-lot sales the retailers may take all the wines you have if that’s what was negotiated, however your list will need to have enough “sellable” wines to make it worth their while. Wines that may be interesting to the selling wine market are:
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Wine from famous wineries – see list of the most highly sought after wines. If the wine is from a top winery chances are good that a buyer will be interested
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Highly rated wine – wines that had good scores from less well know wineries can still make the cut with many retailers (typically 92 points and up)
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Expensive wines – wines that were expensive to begin with (even though they’re not from famous wineries or had amazing scores) – I would say $100 and up. You can lookup pricing for any wine on Wine-searcher.com
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Vintage Champagne is also in high demand by most collectors, even non famous Champagnes can be sold - learn more.
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Fortified wine, espcially vintage ports can last for decaded and fetch a handsome price as well
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Very rare wine or spirit even if obscure – wine that’s very old or specialized may be interesting in certain cases
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Wine from famous regions and from critically acclaimed vintages (see Robert Parker's vintage chart here). An obscure winery from a good region like Bordeaux and a famous vintage like 1982 could work
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Wine can be old or new (famous and/or cult winery are ALWAYS of interest)
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Special collectibles – wines or spirits that may not be interesting for consumption but posses as certain collectible interest, certain autographed bottles, commemorative bottles or bottles that have a highly specific interest
Next step: common issues with wine bottles Good or Bad
Leading Regions
Bordeaux
Usual suspects incude: Chateaus Margaux, Latour, Lafite Rothschild, Mouton Rothschild, Haut-Brion, Petrus, Cheval Blanc, D'Yquem, Lynch-Bages, Cos d'Estournel, Pichon Longueville, Palmer, Angelus, Ducru-Beaucaillou, La Mission Haut-Brion, Pavie and many others
Famous and good vintages: 1982,1985, 1990, 1995,1996, 2000, 2005, 2009, 2010
Burgundy
Burgundy is highly specialized and coveted red (Pinot Noir) and white (Chardonnay) wines. The interest is in both wineries (Domaines) and micro regions (Vineyards): Famous Domaines: Romanee Conti, Leflaive, Armand Rousseau, Dugat-Py, Leroy and countless others.
The famous veinyards are: Clos de la Roche, Chambertin, Musigny, Clos de Vouget, Richebourg, Corton, Montrachet, Batard-Montrachet and many others
Rhone
Rhone is a huge place with many wonderfull sub regions and wineries. The most coveted sub-regions include Hermitage & Crozes Hermitage, Cornas and Chateauneuf du Pape. The famous wineries include: Chapoutier, E. Guigal, Telegraph, Beaucastel, du Pegau, Rayas and many others
Famous & good vintages: 2010, 2009, 2003, 2000, 1998
Champagne
Champagne is also highly coveted and if kept in good conditions can age as well as red wine. Most Champanges are "non vintage" and may be of interest to online wine buyers, but vintage Champagnes will likely be of more interest.
The best producers are: Krug, Louis Roederer Cristal, Dom Perignon, Salon, Jacques Selosse, Bollinger, Runiart and many others
Napa
Napa, California is by far the most famous and coveted wine region in the U.S.. Napa's dominance is mostly centered around the Cabernet Sauvignon varietal. Napa's "Cult Wineries" include: Opus One, Screaming Eagle, Harlan, Colgin, Abreu, Hundred Acre, Shafer, Scarecrow, Bryant and many others
Good vintages: 2013, 2012, 2007, 2001
Sonoma and Santa Barbara
Napa recevies a lot of attention but Sonoma has it's own Cults while up and coming Santa Barbara region has wineries that are achieving commanding prices and wine store buyers are activly looking for these treasures. Sonoma's cults include: Kosta Browne, Williams Selyem, Silver Oak and Marcassin. While Santa Barbara cults include superstar Sine Qua Non and Jonata
Italy (Piedmont, Tuscany, Veneto and more)
Italy boasts some of the best wines in the world. The leading and coveted wine regions include Piedmont which is home to Barolo, Barbersco and others as well as Tuscany's Brunello di Montalcino and Chianti. Amarone della Valpolicella should not be overlooked either.
The leading coveted wineries of Italy include: Bruno Giacosa, Giacomo Conterno, Giuseppe Quintarelli, Biondi Santi Ornellaia and many others
Spain and Portugal
Spain's has some amazing brands that have reached such regard that they can regularly be found in some of the most discerning wine cellars. Spain's greatest includes: Pingus, Vega Sicilia, R. Lopez de Heredia and others
For Portugal, wine collector's interest tends to focus on Port wine. Because it's a fortified wine (higher alcohol and sugar) these wines can last for more than a century. The most famous Ports include: W&J Graham, Taylor Fladgate, Niepoort, Dow and others