Jeff Zacharia, President of Zachy’s, the global leader in wine auctions, tells us about how they made wine auctions more fun, have been moving to studio sales and bidding parties without live auctions, and how they narrowly escaped being swindled by Rudy Kurniawan’s wine fraud scheme.  We learn all about the wine auction process, what regions are trending, and where he sees the market going.  Don’t forget to rate and review XChateau wherever you get your podcasts! Detailed Show Notes: Zachy’s founded in 1944 by Jeff’s grandfather, Jeff joined in 1983Zachy’s wine auctions started in 1995 when wine auction became legal in NY, started with a partnership with Christie’s, and then went independent in 2002Expanded to Hong Kong in 2008 and London in 2020London is to expand in Europe, believes it is underserved from a wine auction perspectiveHaving wines in Europe enables quicker delivery for European customersLondon was the wine auction capital, then became New York, then Hong Kong, now it’s in between New York and Hong KongAuction ProcessSend a list of wines, get a low and high estimate, sign a consignment contractOrganize wines to Zachy’s warehouse, catalog wines in detail (including fill, labels, etc.…), and print catalog, either electronic or print3 methods of auctions - live auction, studio sales (live auctions online), and internet / timed salesZachy’s differentiation - great effort in researching and inspecting the winesAuction MarketSaw steady growth year over year, with a spike in 2019 due to big sales2020 - beating projections (12% above projections)Zachy’s leadership - how they became the #1 wine auction house globallyWine is all they do. They are focused and passionate about itJeff has been in the wine business for 40 years and built deep, long-term relationshipsThe team has invested years building their relationships with collectors and wineriesInnovations - centered around making auctions fun and engagingChanged from the classic auditorium-style auctions to restaurant-style with food and wineBidding parties - often for studio sales, smaller gatherings around the world (e.g., Sweden, London, Germany, China, Hong Kong) that have the same food and wine atmosphere connected via Zoom to the auctionInvestigating how to make virtual auctions more interactiveAuction business modelCurrently focused on buyer’s premiumMay have seller’s commission, but depends on consignment size - the larger the consignment, the smaller the commission; substantial sales may even have rebates from the buyer’s premiumsGetting more consignors is the challenge currentlyExpect prices to continue to rise - quality keeps rising (especially weaker vintages), and more collectors out there for a relatively inexpensive luxuryGrowing auction markets - Burgundy remains strong, some growth in Champagne and Rhone, California hasn’t yet gotten traction - potentially due to a different style of wine than those who are buying BurgundyProvenance premium often from ~20-200%Producer direct - can introduce or reintroduce wines to Zachy’s buyer base, sharing these wines for them to taste, and another way to help build the brandScores declining in importance with more wine criticsTo be auctionable - need quality, rarity, and fashionable - what people are looking forRudy Kurniawan story - bought a lot of wine from a Zachy’s auction and never paid, sent a list of wine to be sold in order to pay, but Zachy’s was uncomfortable with the wines (~60% seemed suspect) and rejected the whole consignment Get access to library episodes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.