fonsca 1912 any out there how rare and great is it

[Symon B]

hi either sounds good symonb

[Niels Stroejer]

hi niels
what lot number was it please and what was name of auction house in denmark
its so rare there are no notes it apears thankyou symonb

Hi Symonb

Sorry, i dont keep that kind of information in my excel-sheet, and i know that TH auctions stopped selling wine, some years ago.

Niels

[Al B.]

Interesting.

On Thursday 9th June 2016 Christie's auctioned a bottle of Fonseca 1912 vintage port, the provenance was quoted as being from the Bonhams Sale of 4th February 2010. These details rang a bell in my memory and after a little searching I rediscovered this thread.

Then I looked into some other recent results and discovered that Omega Auctions had sold a parcel of 6 bottles of Niepoort 1912 colheita on 23rd February 2016.

It seems Symon B is selling his port. I wonder what else he has coming on to the market and why the lots are being sold through different auction houses?

[Andy Velebil]

Interesting.

On Thursday 9th June 2016 Christie's auctioned a bottle of Fonseca 1912 vintage port, the provenance was quoted as being from the Bonhams Sale of 4th February 2010. These details rang a bell in my memory and after a little searching I rediscovered this thread.

Then I looked into some other recent results and discovered that Omega Auctions had sold a parcel of 6 bottles of Niepoort 1912 colheita on 23rd February 2016.

It seems Symon B is selling his port. I wonder what else he has coming on to the market and why the lots are being sold through different auction houses?

That is no surprise. He only wanted to buy and stated he would never drink them I just hope he doesn't start sending me dozens of hateful emails again. The only person I've ever been happy to ban from the Forum. On a side, he joined Wineberserkers Forum a couple times, the last not that long ago...been banned within days each time.

[Will W.]

Then I looked into some other recent results and discovered that Omega Auctions had sold a parcel of 6 bottles of Niepoort 1912 colheita on 23rd February 2016.

I bought the six bottles of 1912 Niepoort to which you (Al) refer. They are from two different bottling years - both in the 1970s, if memory serves - though I have not yet had a chance to open one.

[Al B.]

Then I looked into some other recent results and discovered that Omega Auctions had sold a parcel of 6 bottles of Niepoort 1912 colheita on 23rd February 2016.

I bought the six bottles of 1912 Niepoort to which you (Al) refer. They are from two different bottling years - both in the 1970s, if memory serves - though I have not yet had a chance to open one.

Were Omega Auctions able to give you any information with regards to the provenance of the bottles? A mix of bottling years matches up with the bottles that Symon B described as buying.

[Roy Hersh]

Out of the blue, Symon contacted me just prior to putting these up at auction. Bragging about the quality of these Ports, their scarcity, fill levels and how much money they were going to fetch. An odd duck to say the very least.

I had the chance to meet Symon some years ago when driving with my friend Nicos, from No. London up and through Scotland. I was invited to drink some of his old Ports. But due to his behavior here, decided to just drive right by his town and continue to head to the Highlands instead. A wise move indeed.

[Will W.]

I did not request any information on the provenance; one hopes, if they came from your old 'friend,' that he had them cellared properly. As far as making a pile on the bottles is (or was) concerned, I doubt that he realised his expected winfall - after the seller paid the commission owing to the auction house, he would have pocketed somewhere in the area of GBP 150 per bottle.

[Al B.]

I did not request any information on the provenance; one hopes, if they came from your old 'friend,' that he had them cellared properly. As far as making a pile on the bottles is (or was) concerned, I doubt that he realised his expected winfall - after the seller paid the commission owing to the auction house, he would have pocketed somewhere in the area of GBP 150 per bottle.

From what I learned when I was in email contact with Symon a few years ago, he did know how to look after bottles of wine so I would expect that the bottles were properly cellared while in his ownership. The Fonseca 1912 was offered both by Bonham's and by Christie's as being in storage with Octavian so the hope of good cellarage is a reasonable one.

I'm delighted that these bottles of Niepoort 1912 colheita have finally made their way into the hands of someone who will drink them. I look forward to hearing how the first one tastes.