Lawrence Leichtman wrote:

> Can you really find bargains on these? I guess it all depends what you
> consider a bargain. Marcassin and Kongaards tend to run over $200 per
> bottle. Shafer is usually affordable but still expensive. Sine qua non
> also tends to run on the high side of $150 per bottle. Same with the
> other Cabs listed here. What auction site do you use?

Good question, Larry. My experience in the auction market (mostly with
Hart Davis Hart in Chicago) is that CalCabs tend to fetch fairly high
prices, as do first and supersecond growths and DRC. OTOH, the wines I
seek out (older Bdx, N Rhones, older Burgs, all from "under the radar"
producers) are generally had at about 50-60% of retail. Probably our
all-time best purchase was a mixed lot of 10 '88 Grand Cru Cote de Nuits
Burgs, including Dujac's '88 Clos de la Roche and various Chambertins.
We paid probably $500-600 for the lot and Dujac alone runs about $200
retail. It helps that I seek out unpopular years ('70, '75 and '78 in
Bdx; '88 in Burgundy; '86 in the N Rhone) and lesser-known producers
(DeMontille, Lafon, Anne Gros, Clape, Verset, Ducru, Montrose,
Gruaud-Larose), but that's how my tastes run anyway

Mark Lipton
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