Thanking All Wine Lovers!

Carpe Vinum — Words from Waddington’s Fine Wine & Spirits Team

We hope that you, like many of us in Southern Ontario, have reconciled saying good bye to warm summer days and embraced both the chill and beauty of autumn. While this year’s Thanksgiving turkey dinner might not have been the big and boisterous family affair you’re used to, we hope you enjoyed it safely with the people most important to you, along with something wonderful to drink.

After the completion of our Fine Wine and Spirits auctions, we typically don’t have much time to celebrate. It’s no different this season; we’re already deep into cataloguing our November auctions of wine and spirits. But we wanted to take a moment to celebrate you, our passionate clients.

It’s wonderful to see so many friends coming together (virtually) to indulge in our shared passion: enjoying wine. Whether you are a consignor or a buyer, your enthusiasm for wine comes through in the way you have cared for your consignments, or frenetically bid on your favourite cuvées. These auctions could not happen without you, and we sincerely thank you.

September fine Wine auction Highlights – 100% Sold!

As part of our post-auction rituals we take a moment to reflect on and analyse the enormous amounts of data generated throughout the auction. We would like to share some of that data with you:

• 100% of lots offered in the September Fine Wine auction sold
• 94% of lots were sold over the low estimate
• 75% of lots were sold over the high estimate
• 23 bids were placed on average for each lot
• 13,196 bids were placed on wine so far in 2020, with 6,324 in September alone

We would also like to highlight a few lots that were especially interesting or impressive:

Lot 1 – Chapoutier Ermitage Le Pavillon 2005 (3)
We typically reserve the first lot of our wine auctions for something with a little pizzazz — generally a classed growth Bordeaux or something we know is in high demand. We decided to go a different route for this auction and made our first lot something from the criminally under-appreciated Rhône Valley. This 100 point wine made us all proud by wildly beating all of our expectations, realising $3,906 against an estimate of $800-1,000.

Lot 270 – Château Latour 1982 (3)
This lot is the epitome of a 100 point wine. It fetched the highest price in this auction, realising $6,660.

Lot 26 – Sassicaia 2016 (6, OWC)
One of many Super Tuscans in this auction, this 6-bottle lot still in its original wood case, realised more than double its high estimate with $5,424. Its estimate range was $1,800-2,000 and the bidding started at $1,320. Simply amazing!

Lot 158 – Château Olivier 1989 (12, OWC)
The biggest surprise of this auction! Bidding started at $360 and the lot had an estimate of $500-700. After 36 bids from seven very determined bidders the lot ended up realising $4,332, over six times above its high estimate.

September FINE Spirits auction Highlights

We would be remiss to not mention the equally successful Fine Spirits auction. Here are a number of noteworthy lots:

Lot 16 – Black Bowmore Islay Single Malt Scotch NAS
This was the highest bid of the Fine Spirits auction, realising $13,200.

Lot 151 – Seagram’s Rare Old Blended Canadian Whisky NAS
It is always a pleasure to see Canadian products do well at auction. This lot had the most bids with 44 bids placed between 3 very passionate bidders, and realised $3,000 after starting at $180.

Lot 132 – Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon 23 Years
The perpetually difficult-to-acquire Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve. It realised $4,200 after a starting bid of $2,500.

Lot 166 – The Hakushu Single Malt Japanese Whisky 18 Years
If you follow the spirits market you are aware just how in-demand fine Japanese whiskies currently are. They do not come up for auction as often as we would like, and being highly sought-after tend to perform very strongly at auction. This lot started at $400 and after fierce bidding realised $1,920, more than quadrupling its starting bid.

our November fine wine Auction

The catalogue for November’s Fine Wine auction is already coming together, and this auction is shaping up to be even bigger and better than September. We’re already eyeing a number of lots that will make superb Christmas gifts, and we consciously scheduled this auction to allow ample time to bid on, pick up, and wrap your drinkable treasures for gift-giving.

We’re really excited for the November Fine Wine auction, and we hope you’ll enjoy what will be on offer. Some highlights include:

• A selection of great Burgundy such as Domaine Leroy and Rousseau
• Stellar vintages of Bordeaux favourites such as Pétrus, Lafite, Mouton and Latour, including a double magnum of 2005 Mouton Rothschild in its original wood case
• A large selection of Super Tuscans including Sassicaia, Solaia and Ornellaia

Staying in the Know

If you’re not already subscribed to our Fine Wine and Spirits email list, we strongly recommend signing up. It’s the best way to find out about what’s featured in upcoming auctions, and you’ll be the first to be notified about upcoming auctions and when the online gallery and catalogues are available.

Consigning to our auctions

The consignment deadline for our November auctions has already passed, but we are now accepting well-cellared consignments for our 2021 auctions.

Waddington’s consistently overperforms the international wine market, and we strive to make the consignment process as seamless and transparent as possible.

For more information about consignments please visit our Fine Wine & Spirits Consignment Page, or contact us at [email protected].

Our Very Best Regards,
Joann, Devin, Robin and the rest of the Waddington’s team.