Winexpression

Despite critics claims that Robert Parker is losing his edge, his reviews are still the gold standard throughout the world. This article highlights the effects his Australian report had on the wine auction market.

The release of Robert Parker Jr’s Wine Advocate and his Australia Report is always accompanied by much anticipation and trepidation for many wine investors, wine collectors and winemakers. “He exerts an uncommon influence on the wine auction market.” says wine auctioneer Mark Wickman. “With the immediate release of his Australian scores appearing on the internet for the first time, we are seeing the effects here in Australia ripple through the industry much faster than in the past when it was posted in the mail.”

Wickman believes Parker’s influence to be one of the primary benchmarks guiding so many consumers dabbling in wine investment today. “It’s amazing how the opinions of one man so far away can influence the fortunes of so many here in Australia. With just a few lines he propels the tiny town of Greenock in the Barossa into the limelight and with another stoke of the pen creates a pariah of one of Australia’s iconic wines, causing massive controversy amongst wine oenophiles around Australia”

Within hours of the Wine Advocate being available on the internet, vendors had phoned and emailed Wickman’s to adjust their reserve prices. Wines that were available only days before for $50 were now revalued to $150, others that did not receive the score they were anticipating dropped as much as 200% with vendors desperate to clear out stockpiles of Parker hopefuls.

Wine auctions are big business, online and off. For the first time worldwide sales of fine and rare wine at auction hit US$109 million and worldwide internet auction wine sales rose from US$14.7 million (in 2003) to US$19 million (in 2004). “An abundance of online wine auctions means that consumers intending to dabble in wine investment have more options, choices and markets than ever before to choose from,” says Wickman [who would say that, wouldn't he?]. “The free-market nature and the international reach of online wine auctions make them very attractive to would-be wine investors, but also very sensitive to outside influence such as Robert Parker.”

Receiving many requests for wine investment advice, Wickman is reluctant to encourage anyone to actively invest in wine. “You should consider every other investment opportunity first and then if you still believe your prospects are good you should be prepared to drink any losses by only purchasing wine that you personally like,” Wickman says. He also states that there is a steep learning curve for the novice but learning the ropes can be very fun (sic), extremely social and provide excellent networking opportunities.

Some of the basic approaches to wine investment that Wickman suggests is to make sure you are keeping track of the major trends influencing the marketplace by subscribing to popular publications such as Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate [www.erobertparker.com] for the US market and Jeremy Oliver [www.onwine.com.au] for the Australian market. “These will provide you with a core understanding of which wines and wineries are likely to be propelled into the limelight,” he says. “Trying to anticipate which wines will be popular a year down the track is difficult, but by becoming a regular visitor to internet wine forums such as Auswine and Starwine in Australia and Mark Squires in the USA, you may be able to pickup on emerging wineries before they get graded by Parker”.

“Storage is another aspect that is often overlooked by potential wine investors,” says Wickman. Improperly stored wine decreases its value but by keeping meticulous records of where your wine was purchased from and where it has been stored for its lifetime, a wine that has well documented provenance can command a much higher price than one which may be in doubt. “Professional [Australian] storage facilities such as Kennards and Millers provide temperature and humidity control as well as security for your wine assets,” he recommends.

Mark Wickman
WICKMAN’S FINE WINE AUCTIONS
PO Box 1270
North Haven
South Australia, 5018
Australia
Website: http://wineauction.wickman.net.au

For the full press release from Mark Wickman, Click here.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 10th, 2005 at 3:28 pm and is filed under People, Ratings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.