Rare Wines Courtesy of Your Local Wine Collector
By Debra L. Clawar
What is a fine wine collector to do when a lifetime of collecting yields
more bottles of wine than one could possibly consume? Collections usually
begin because of the collectors’ desire to acquire the best wines
that represent unique expressions of place, time, the art of grape growing
and winemaking. It takes a significant amount of time and effort to
build a collection of great quality. Wine collectors must go to great
lengths, and often great expense, to ensure their collections are protected
from heat, light and motion. Yet attempts to mitigate the negative effects
of the environment on such a delicate collectible cannot guard completely
against the unpredictable development of wine in bottle.
Collectors can sell off part or all of their collections through wine
auction houses. However, many collectors want the assurance that whoever
buys and consumes their wine does so with a high level of appreciation
and enjoyment. Selling their wines to restaurants is a good way for
collectors to put a human face on the transaction. According to Glenn
Vogt, former General Manager of Windows on the World and currently a
consultant to Manhattan’s newly opened Compass, collectors receive
great satisfaction from seeing people enjoy their wines and knowing
that it is in the hands of other passionate wine lovers.
For restaurants, the value proposition is twofold. First, restaurants
can acquire ready-to-drink bottles from old or rare vintages. Vogt adds
the caveat that restaurants need the expertise of identifying worthy
vintages and appellations. Second, Vogt has found that many wine collectors
as a matter of pride want to ensure that what they sell to restaurants
is of the highest quality and therefore are willing to replace defective
bottles. Vogt contrasts this with purchasing wine from an auction house
that usually offers little if any recourse to consumers.
Bernie Sun, Head Sommelier at Montrachet in Manhattan, says that more
restaurants are beginning to explore the option of working with collectors
to stock their cellars. With high market prices for rare wines and collectors
aggressively purchasing from auctions, there is a dwindling supply of
fine wines. Sun emphasizes that it is very important for the restaurant
to know the collector well, trust their taste and ability to care for
and store the wines properly, to ensure that consumers will be drinking
excellent wine.
Many of the premier wine restaurants in the United States have founding
partners whose fine wine collections have been used to build reserve
lists or serve as the building blocks for an outstanding wine program.
Christie Dufault, Sommelier of the San Francisco restaurant Gary Danko,
which was recently awarded the Wine Spectator Grand Award, says
that she has been able to acquire some excellent bottles from one of
the restaurant’s silent partners. In New York, perhaps the best
example of the influence of collectors on wine offerings at restaurants
is Veritas. Partners Park Smith and Steve Verlin’s personal collections
were used to draw a reserve wine list that is part of one of the most
extensive and exciting lists in the country. What also distinguishes
Veritas’ list, in addition to their wide-ranging selections, is
their pricing. While most restaurants charge patrons a minimum of 250
percent of the wholesale price, at Veritas, wines are generally priced
well below this level.
Despite the benefits of working with private collectors, there are
legal issues that restaurants need to consider before tapping in to
these priceless cellars. Leonard Fogelman, a New York state beverage
and alcohol attorney notes that buying wine from collectors is a very
restricted process. The Alcoholic Beverage Control Law stipulates how
the sale of privately held wine can be purchased. Among other regulations,
non-licensed individuals like collectors can only sell to licensed persons
or groups and the bottle must be labeled as having originated from a
private collection. Furthermore, a monetary exchange for the transaction
must have taken place before the wines appear on the wine list. In other
words, cellaring the wines in the restaurant without the explicit intention
of selling the wine to customers is not an option.
Customers ultimately are the greatest beneficiaries of the relationship
between wine collectors and restaurants. With wine lists enhanced with
rare Bordeaux, limited production Burgundy, or California cult Cabernets,
non-collectors can have a chance to taste some of rarest, painstakingly
selected and cared for wines available. So the next time you are dining
out and try a special bottle of hard-to-procure wine, you might have
a passionate collector to thank for what will surely be a memorable
enological experience.
