Fine wine appraisal?!
Fine wine appraisal?
Where can I find a reputable fine wine appraiser around the Bay Area or California? Any suggestions of good wine appraiser?
Answers:
A winery is unlikely to help you appraise your wine. You want to contact one of the big wine auction houses such as Sotheby's or Butterfield's & Butterfield's. They will appraise your wine and give estimates of what they would fetch at auction. If you choose to auction your wine through them, they take a percentage.
Another option is to contact a large fine wine retailer (in the Bay Area some include the Wine Club, the Wine House, Premier Cru and others) and they will often appraise your wine. However, they are only likely to do so if you intend to sell the whole collection to them. You will get better prices at auction than selling to a retailer but more hassle (having to wait for the auction and everything to go through).
Regardless of where you get your wine appraised, don't bother unless you have stored it well. Wine which has not been stored under close to perfect conditions are not likely to fetch much of anything and an auction house or retailer will not likely waste their time unless you can demonstrate that the wines have been cellared properly.
Find one of the MANY local winerys there and they will be able to help you. The Napa Valley has some of the best wines in California, and the country.