WE ALL know the share market is on the nose at the moment, but tomorrow will give us an idea of how the fine wine market is faring.
Online bidding for a full 52-bottle set of Penfolds Grange Hermitage and Grange closes at 7.30pm tomorrow, with the anonymous Adelaide vendor probably set to scoop up more than $150,000.
Wine auctioneer Mark Wickman said the set contained all vintages from the first in 1951 to the 2002.
So for an extra $500 for the 2003 release, selling now, the buyer will have a complete set.
Mark said the collection of Australia's creme de la vin is in good condition but perhaps not as well-presented as some sets in individual boxes. The owner said he is selling because he is moving house and losing a large cellar but had enjoyed being one of very few owners of a full set of Grange.
"I used to get a kick out of it. After a bad day at the office I'd walk down into the cellar and look at it and I'd feel a hell of a lot better."
If he hits the reserve his return on capital will be much better than the overall share market - particularly in recent times.
Mark said he was also fielding inquiries for another set in excellent condition being sold privately which could challenge the current Grange set auction record of $176,000 plus 15 per cent buyer's premium.
A third full set is also for sale by Langton's from August 4, so around 10 per cent of the known full Grange collections are now on the market.
According to my resident wine expert Chris Snow, Penfolds Grange and Grange Hermitage was first made as an experiment by Max Schubert at Penfolds' Magill Estate.
Bottles of the 1952 to 1956 were commercially released in 1956 to widespread criticism, leading to many of the 1951 vintage being given away as promotions.
In 1957 Penfolds' Sydney head office ordered a stop to Grange production, but for the next three years Schubert, helped by Adelaide management, secretly made Grange in defiance of the edict.
