1808 and 1870 Leacock Madeira - pricing question

[Timothy B.]

I recently got an email with these two Madeiras offered:

Bual/Malmsey Solera 1808, Leacock bottling £1600
Sercial Vintage 1870, Leacock bottling, original corks and capsules £1300

I'm thinking they are out of my spending range at the moment, but I'm curious to know if they are good deals or horribly overpriced, or what. I'm not sure what to google for, but I found some auctions at Christie's that make it look like these vintages could have been bought at half the price or less.

-- T

[Gary Banker]

Those prices look awfully high. Shipping from the UK would add even more. Perhaps the seller is charging for rarity. Neither shows up in WineSearcher for the US or UK.

[Roy Hersh]

If you are willing to spend that much money on these particular bottles, I believe I also have some bottles to sell you too!

[Timothy B.]

Do you also have a bridge to sell?

It's true that I'm pretty darn ignorant about pricing and relative values for Madeira. But in my defense, I did note that I'd found those Christie's auctions. Here is the link - 6 bottles for £2,300.

And here is the link to the "retail" page: http://www.finestandrarest.com/madeira.html

The person/company who is selling those bottles ("only 2 of each left!") also does a business in pre-prohibition absinthe. It's even more pricy - imagine $300 for a 50ml sample (though that includes shipping) or several thousand for a bottle. That's also been too rich for my blood.

I've never had any point of comparison before, since there doesn't seem to be any other source for old absinthe. But with these Madeira offerings, I can see what a huge markup they are used to.

-- T

[Roy Hersh]

Timothy,

If you are patient, you will find much better deals over time here in the USA. Have a look at The Rare Wine Co. website, the finest and fairest purveyor of Madeira in our country.

[Moses Botbol]

Those prices look awfully high. Shipping from the UK would add even more. Perhaps the seller is charging for rarity. Neither shows up in WineSearcher for the US or UK.

I thought they were expensive as well. Are either of them that rare? They don't sound that rare to me...

[Gary Banker]

The comment referring to rarity was a bit tongue-in-cheek. However, I couldn't find either one in the US or UK using Wine Searcher, and the 1870 does not appear in the vintage list on Peter Reutter's website.

[Roy Hersh]

That does sound rare then. Maybe not to Moses, but he must have a remarkable collection of old Madeiras. Afterall, if he could part the Red Sea ... what are a few bottles of old Madeira?

[Jose Costa]

I am not sure about these particular wines though the prices look very hefty. We represent D'Oliveiras and as an example of similar very old Madeira we sell the wines below at the following FOB prices:

D'Oliveira Verdelho 1850 - EUR 520
D'Oliveira Malvazia 1875 - EUR 478
D'Oliveira Malvazia 1907 - EUR 255
D'Oliveira Bastardo 1927 - EUR 245

The above prices are our normal prices.

BTW, I am not trying to sell wine here just providing some comparison to help Timothy reach a conclusion on the prices he has.

CHEERS!
Jose

[Moses Botbol]

That does sound rare then. Maybe not to Moses, but he must have a remarkable collection of old Madeiras. Afterall, if he could part the Red Sea ... what are a few bottles of old Madeira?

Could've swarn we had an 1808 Madeira a few weeks ago... Seriously. The bottle was like turpentine, the worst Madeira showing I have had ever. Too rough to drink, and I'd say not a good example to make judegement on the vintage.

It was like extreme bottle stink. Sean has the bottle now, I wonder if it has settled?