How to read a wine auction catalogue
The lot title, the estimate, the condition line and the closing time each say something specific. Here is what to read, in the order a buyer needs it.
The lot title
The title gives the producer, wine and vintage, then what the lot contains: how many bottles and what size. "6 bts" is six 750 ml bottles. "1 mag" is one magnum (1.5 L). "OWC" means the original wooden case. "12 bts (2 x 6 OWC)" is two cases. Some houses put the count and size first ("6 bottles per lot"), some put them last, and Bonhams writes both inside brackets. The LastHammer badge matches on the wine itself. The count and size decide the per-bottle price.
The estimate
The house sets this range before the sale. It is where the house expects the hammer price to land. It is more a guide to the reserve (the lowest price the seller will accept, usually at or under the low estimate) than a prediction. Lots sell under the low estimate every week. That is where the bargains are. That is also where the last hammer price for the same wine tells you whether the low estimate is itself high.
The condition line
The condition line covers the fill level, which is how high the wine comes in the bottle (base neck, top shoulder, mid shoulder). It also covers the label (bin-soiled, scuffed, torn), the capsule, the cork and the case. For an old wine, read the fill first: a 1982 filled into the shoulder is a different lot from one filled to base neck. For a young wine the condition line is usually short, and the price is about the wine.
The closing time and the rules
Online sales close lot by lot or all at once. Most add time to a lot when a bid comes in during the last minutes. Weekly houses close on a fixed evening: WineBid and Acker's online sale close on Sunday, Spectrum's sessions end on a fixed night, and Zachys' zCollections run about two weeks. Live sales have a start time and move at the auctioneer's pace. The auction calendar lists what is open and closing, and will email you the day before a sale you mark.
Location and shipping
Where the wine is stored decides what it costs to get it to you, and whether the house can ship to your state at all. A New York house selling wine stored in Delaware is the same lot at a different shipping cost. Check the location line before you bid, and read the house's shipping page once.
The number that is missing
What the same wine last sold for. As you browse, LastHammer shows the last hammer price per bottle, from twenty-eight houses, under the lot title. Click the price to see the sales behind it, with a link to the wine's page on CellarTracker for its most recent tasting notes. What a hammer price is, and how a published result turns into one.