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VDP’s Centennial Wine Auctions: A Remarkable Tribute to Tradition
A Century of Fine Wines and Rarities Come Under the Hammer 24 - 26 September 2010

As part of their centennial celebrations, the VDP (Prädikat Wine Estates) will conduct three auctions of fine wines and rarities during the last weekend of September 2010. One hundred years ago, four regional wine-growers’ associations (Mosel, Nahe, Rheingau, Rheinhessen) joined forces to form the Verband Deutscher Naturweinversteigerer, the forerunner of today’s VDP. At that time, it was common practice for renowned estates to sell their “natural” (pure, unadulterated, unchaptalized) wines at auction. The organization’s name has changed – Natur has been replaced by Prädikat to describe their high-quality wines – but their tradition of wine auctions has retained its function as a benchmark of the market for top German wines to this day.

The prestige of VDP auctions has also helped reinstate the image that fine German wines enjoyed at home and abroad a century ago. Wine enthusiasts, collectors, and professionals are all welcome to attend this year’s auctions in the Mosel (24 September), Rheingau (25 September), and Nahe (26 September) regions. In 2010, however, these three traditional venues will also auction VDP wines of other regions, i.e. this year’s auctions will feature wines from nearly all of Germany’s 13 wine-growing regions:

The Mosel auction will include wines from Mittelrhein, Sachsen, and Saale-Unstrut.

The Rheingau auction will include wines from Baden, Franken, and Württemberg.

The Nahe auction will include wines from Ahr, Rheinhessen, and Pfalz.

As usual, the wines on offer will represent the best lots of recent vintages, but also a breathtaking selection of rarities from more than a century, as VDP members open the doors to their treasure chambers to auction “last remaining bottles” of a vintage. All of these top-quality wines have extraordinary longevity; the mature rarities bear witness to this. The majority of the wines are Rieslings, THE German wine classic and number one grape of choice of VDP members, in most regions.

Bottles bearing the sticker “auction wine” are quite exclusive in that they are being offered for the first time and are available only at auction – they are not sold on the regular market. In addition to their top-quality ERSTE LAGE wines, the wines being auctioned number among the estates’ very finest. After the auction, the wines will be stored in the treasure chambers of their owners...and will only see the light of day on special occasions. The rarities have never left their original cellars, an additional guarantee of their authenticity and quality.

The auctions themselves are legendary in that they are “wet auctions,” including a morning pre-tasting of all wines – except for rarities and single-bottle lots. During the actual auction, these wines are poured again and can be sampled before the auctioneer begins bidding.

“It is something very special to be able to experience an auction firsthand...a century-old tradition that hasn’t lost any of its excitement,” says VDP president Steffen Christmann. “Only someone who has personally experienced the suspense of an auction can appreciate how much enthusiasm wine can evoke.”

Friday, 24 September 2010

122. Auction Grosser Ring VDP-Mosel-Saar-Ruwer at Europahalle Trier

Saturday, 25 September 2010

Auction VDP Rheingau at Kloster Eberbach Eltville

Sunday, 26 September 2010

Auction VDP-Nahe-Ahr at Römerhalle Bad Kreuznach

Sunday, 26 September 2010

ERSTE LAGE presentation: an additional highlight for the trade and press. Details...

Wine Auctions – a Tradition With a Future

Since its founding in 1897, when the VDP was known as auctioneers of “Naturweine” (natural, or unchaptalized, wines), the auctions have served its members as a benchmark of the market for top German wines.

The fine distinction of the VDP auctions is that all wines come directly from the producers’ cellars – a guarantee of the wines’ authenticity and quality. Only the best lots of a vintage come under the hammer, i.e. wines from individual vineyard sites, ranging from Kabinett to Trockenbeerenauslese. The wines of the newest vintage predominate, supplemented by a limited number of rarities. Minimum starting prices run the gamut from reasonable to expensive, depending on the renown of the vintner, the vintage, the wine’s origin and quality level, as well as the number of bottles available.   

“Wet” Auctions – Quite an Experience

All auctions include a morning pre-tasting of all wines – except for rarities and single-bottle lots. During the actual auction itself, these wines are poured again and can be sampled before the auctioneer begins the bidding. Those who wish to attend both the pre-tasting as well as the auction can purchase a combination ticket. These are available on site and can also be ordered online.

Every year several hundred devotees of top-quality wines travel from abroad to stock up on rare wines. The steadily growing presence of international guests from the USA, Japan, Benelux, Scandinavia, Switzerland, and increasingly, Eastern Europe, is a sign that the annual wine auctions help foster the image of Germany’s finest wines well beyond the German border.

In addition to the annual regional auctions, the VDP national association also conducts a rare wine auction about every ten years – the last one took place in 1997. The next one will take place in 2010, to celebrate the association’s centennial.

Record Prices

Often, young wines achieve new world records. In 2000, for example, a 1999 Kiedrich Gräfenberg Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese from the Rheingau estate Weingut Robert Weil fetched DM 6,235 per bottle, while in 2001, a 750-ml bottle of 1994 Scharzhofberger Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese from Weingut Egon Müller-Scharzhof of Wiltingen on the Saar topped that record with DM 9,228.

The absolute record was set in 1987, when one bottle of 1735 Johannisberger Riesling from Weingut Schloss Schönborn fetched DM 53.000 (ca. €26,000). The winning bid was placed by a German-Canadian businessman.

VDP. The Prädikat Wine Estates – and Their Eagle

The VDP logo – a stylized eagle bearing a cluster of grapes – guarantees authentic wine pleasure. When the VDP eagle adorns the capsule of a wine, one can rest assured that it’s one of the best German wines from one of the best-known wine estates of the country. With its stringent criteria for membership – at present, some 200 estates belong – the VDP is the bulwark of quality and opposes all efforts in today’s globalized world to produce homogenous, or even synthetic, wine. It is an alliance of quality fanatics, who work  hard, often in stony soils and on steep slopes, to bring forth the best from their excellent sites. They firmly believe that wine and joie de vivre are synonymous. The VDP eagle – there’s no better guarantor of the quality and the producer of a wine.