The LANGTONS team explains just how easy it is to turn your wine into capital

Most oenophiles simply buy top-of-the-line wine to drink and enjoy. But the team over at LANGTONS wants to highlight how highly sought after wines have an alternative use – as an investment. 

That treasured wine you have hidden away in your cellar might be important to you, but LANGTONS – Australia's largest wine auction house – has connections to some of the country's most significant fine wine collectors who could pay a handsome price for that dusty old bottle you may or may not actually get around to opening.

Simply start things off by getting your wines appraised by their team during a complimentary, no obligations valuation, and then decide if you want them to take the bottles to auction. They take care of the rest of the process, making it so easy to turn your wine into capital.   

Moreover, you might seek to purchase wine at one of LANGTONS' regularly held auctions – deciding to hold onto it until the wine appreciates in value. You can then sell it through LANGTONS to another collector for a profit.

For example, in 2020, LANGTONS sold the brilliant 2006 Domaine d’Auvenay Grand Cru Criots-Batard-Montrachet to a collector – who spent around $5500 for the privilege of owning such a rare bottle. Within a year (and without ever taking ownership – instead choosing to use LANGTONS’ storage) the buyer noticed an uptick in the market and asked them to take the wine back to auction. It was then sold to another lucky buyer for over $18,000.

That’s quite the return in a little over 12 months – highlighting why you should pay serious attention to the world of wine auctions.

To help you navigate this space, the LANGTONS team has offered up a few nuggets of advice. And with over 35 years of experience helping people buy and sell premium wine, they really are perfectly positioned to help you turn your collectables into capital.

How to pick wines that will give you a high return on your initial investment

It is important to note that wines from famed international producers (and Penfolds Grange bottles) aren’t all that sell well at auction.

Head of Auctions at LANGTONS Michael Anderson shared, “Boutique and small-make pinot noir and chardonnay that sell out on release from the winery perform very well at auctions. Place of Changing Winds (Macedon Ranges) and Savaterre (Beechworth) are good examples.

“What they have in common is that a neighbouring winery has broken through the collective consciousness of fine wine lovers. Respectively, those would be Bindi Wines and Giaconda. The trick is to find that singular regional exemplar and look for their neighbours chasing that level.

“Get in early on the wine list, buy and store well, and enjoy the wine or take them to auction when the time is ripe. In auctions, as in life, timing is everything.

LANGTONS takes all the stress out of selling your wine

The team also makes it very easy to sell these bottles. First and foremost, this is thanks to its complimentary evaluation service. You don’t need to pay any fees to simply find out what they expect your wine to sell for at auction.

If you are happy with the valuation, LANGTONS can collect your wine, or you can drop it off to them. If the wine collection you have for auction is big enough, they’ll even collect it free of charge.

From there, they do all the hard work of selling your wines.

The bottles get inspected, cleaned and photographed before being put away in a climate-controlled auctions area. They will offer your wine in a curated auction – or if the volume and quality is right – LANGTONS offers single-vendor auctions. Single vendor auctions allow them to shine a light on your special wines and talk to your collection. Once your wine sells, you will receive payment within seven business days.

But why LANGTONS?

Michael shares, “It all comes down to numbers! While we have a strong reputation and heritage, the auction market always boils down to cold, hard numbers – and that is our difference.

“We move more fine wine through auctions than anyone else in Australia. We also have the largest audience, including the country's most significant collectors. Whether buying or selling, your best chance to find fine wine or a market for yours is at LANGTONS Auctions." 

If you are interested in buying or selling premium wine with LANGTONS, you can find more details via their website.

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