Keys to the Cellar: Strategies and Secrets of Wine Collecting
Keys to the Cellar: Strategies and Secrets of Wine Collecting “Peter D. Meltzer, Wine Spectator’s auction correspondent for morethan twenty years, is the foremost authority on wine collecting. His book offers expert guidance for beginners and connoisseurs alike.”
—Marvin R. Shanken, Editor and Publisher, Wine Spectator
“Peter Meltzer is an authoritative journalist, savvy collector,and urbane restaurant and wine list critic; he makes theideal companion and counselor for wine collectors.”
—Michael Batterberry, Editor in Chief and Publisher, Food Arts
“Keys to the Cellar is fascinating, informative, and easy to read; with this book, you will truly understand the ins and outsof buying wines for your personal cellar.”
—Kevin Zraly, educator and author of Windows on the World Complete Wine Course
A true wine-lover who knows the value of a well-aged bottle, Peter Meltzer both celebrates and demystifies wine collecting in Keys to the Cellar. His appreciation of fine wine flavors every page as he gives you a practical approach to building a collection that fits your preferences, your lifestyle, and your budget. You’ll find information on:
- Buying and selling wine at auction, including valuable insider tips
- Bidding at online wine auctions
- Using the Web to calculate a wine’s true value or locate a hard-to-find bottle
- Making the best use of fine wine merchants
- Storing and enjoying your wine—both every day and over the long term
As a bonus, this guide includes a user-friendly Wine Spectator auction index, an invaluable tool for researching the “going rate” for more than 500 top auctioned wines. Whether you are just getting started or want to enhance your collection, this is a book you’ll savor again and again—like your favorite fine wines.
Customer Review: 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 wrote the very useful PASSPORT TO NEW YORK RESTAURANTS in 2001. 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 fromwine 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 Roman?e 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.”
One caution: don’t rely solely on Meltzer before buying a free-standing, temperature and humidity controlled wine storage units. Meltzer lists seven “highly rated brands”: Breezaire, Le Cache, Vinocraft, Avanti, Haier, Danby and Marvel. Five brands should not have been included:
- Breezaire makes cooling units, but it does not make wine storage units
- Avanti, Haier, Danby and Marvel make coolers which control temperature but not humidity.
Read Meltzer, but continue your research at a good reseller like Galt Wine, or at the manufacturer’s websites like Avanti, Danby, Haier, Summit, Sub-Zero, U-Line, Marvel, or Viking, or on one of the wine discussion groups like the Wine Lovers Page.
On the positive side, 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 interest in buying wine whether at retail or at auction. It won the “2006 Georges Duboeuf Award for Wine Book of the Year”. Kevin Zraly, a leading wine educator and author of WINDOWS ON THE WORLD COMPLETE WINE COURSE describes the book well: “KEYS TO THE CELLAR is fascinating, informative, and easy to read; with this book, you will truly understand the ins and outs of buying wines for your personal cellar.”
Customer Review: 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.
