Keys to the Cellar: Strategies and Secrets of Wine Collecting

by Peter D. Meltzer

Book Overview

Following the ever-growing interest in wine and food, this text demystifies how to create a cellar with a road map to all the essentials, including bidding at auctions, tracking down wines online,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471473596
• ISBN13: 9780471473596
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Length: 258 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.3" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Valuable advice for buying fine wine

Peter Meltzer is a wine and food writer who lives on the Upper East Side and in the Hamptons. He has been "Wine Spectator's" auction correspondent for more than twenty years. Meltzer has written a practical approach to building a fine wine collection that fits your preferences, lifestyle, and budget. He covers: -- Buying and selling wine at auction. -- Bidding at online wine auctions. -- Using the Web to calculate value or locate wines. -- Buying effectively from wine merchants. -- Storing and enjoying wine short and long term. The book includes the "Wine Spectator" auction index which covers over 500 frequently auctioned wines. Meltzer emphasizes the importance of understanding what you really want to achieve from your wine collection. He urges beginners to start out buying only enough wine for the first year, and gain experience using hints from his book. The hints will be useful no matter what your objectives. He has suggestions and cautions for folks looking for bargains, and warnings for folks at the top end. For example, Meltzer describes three sales within a few months of one another in 2004. In the first, at NYWinesChristie's, a case of the Leroy La Romanée 1953 sold for $49,350; just a month later at the same auction house, another case of the same wine sold for $19,975 and then a third sold at Acker Merrall & Condit for $17,550. He discusses the factors that might explain the differences in price, including documented storage history or lack thereof, bidder's panic, and more. In a recent interview he points out that collectors at lower price points can benefit from buying at auction: "What's really heartening is that the market has polarized, It's the trophy wines at the top for which people will duel to the depths of their pockets, while the lower end of the price spectrum tends to be sane, sound, and accessible. You can buy off-vintages and unsung wines at below retail, often for well under $500 per lot." Meltzer answers questions online at "Wine Spectator" in a straight forward, practical manner: "Q: If I buy wine at auction from a reputable house and open it to find the wine oxidized or just generally shot, is that just part of the risk assumed in buying at auction, or can I ask for a refund? "A: Auction catalogs generally stipulate that you are buying "as is," leaving you little recourse if a wine is oxidized. However, auction houses are not in the business of making enemies, and exceptions to the rule may be made. If you uncover an oxidized bottle, immediately bring it to the attention of the auction specialist and provide him with a sample to evaluate. (This won't work, of course, if it's been several years since your purchase.) As a rule, auction houses carefully inspect consignments prior to acceptance, so danger signs, such as low fill levels, inappropriate color, protruding capsules and so on, should be detected in advance, causing the lot to be rejected." Meltzer's book is an excellent resource if you have any in

Great book on how to buy for a new cellar and how to buy at auction

Meltzer is a veteran of the wine auctions and his tips for buying at auction are invaluable. He also provides very solid ideas as to how to start your cellar ( the actual collection of bottles, not the construction of the thing) depending on your interests, lifestyle and approach to wine. I found it most informative because of the wealth of tidbits and asides that he adds to it. He has been around for a while and it shows. This is a book i would give to someone who wants to seiously get into wine, and i would definetly buy it again.