Wine and collecting, growing auctions all over the world, and new players arrive in Italy

Wine collecting sails before the wind, and auctions are an increasingly popular channel for lovers and collectors to obtain great bottles, often of vintages that are difficult to find on traditional channels. In the first half of 2019, according to data collected by Wine Spectator, bottles were sold by major auction houses for 233.8 million dollars, 1% more than a record-breaking 2018. A global trend, which is also spreading in Italy. And so, if for years the only protagonists were the Florentine auction house Pandolfini or Gelardini & Romani Wine Auction, the only player specialized in Italian wine, born in Rome and now based in Hong Kong, gradually emerged realities such as Bolaffi, in partnership with Slow Wine, and, more recently, Wannenes, together with Gambero Rosso (first event on October 24th, in the debut of “Roma Gambero Rosso Wine Weeks”, ed), to name a few. And now the group Gruppo Finarte, founded in 1959 by the Milanese banker Gian Marco Manusardi to assist collectors and operators in the sector in the purchase and sale of works of art, after 60 years, according to a note, has decided to enter the world of wine. The debut, as you can read on the website of the Milanese maison (www.finarte.it), will be held on November 2019 in Milan, the economic and financial capital (and after Expo 2015 also gourmand) of the Belpaese. “Throughout its decades-long history, Finarte has spanned all aspects of collecting, hence the push to turn their attention also towards the vintage bottles, available on the market in limited quantities and enhanced by the main premiums in the sector - explains the auction house- because these characteristics ensure the quality and involve a gradual increase in value: the bottles become alternative forms of investment. The wine auctions are part of the appointments of this world of culture and tradition, much followed by lovers. Italy, which has always played a role of primary importance in the production of great wines in the world, as regards the proposal and results of auctions of fine wines and spirits, is competing increasingly with the most important cities for wine auctions such as New York, London and Hong Kong. Among the collectables, the Wine & Spirits category emerges, which combines good taste, pleasure and passion. The auction will be held on November in Milan and will be oriented on a proposal of collections of fine national and international wineries; the great wines that in recent years continue to find interest and break records are always in evidence: the most famous of France are Chateaux of Bordeaux, the Domains of Burgundy and the prestigious Champagne; for Italy, the now-classic of auction: Supertuscan, such as Sassicaia, Masseto, Solaia, Ornellaia, Brunello di Montalcino, Barolo and Amarone; the picture, of great interest to collectors, will be completed with Italian wineries destined to open new frontiers in the world of prestigious wines”.
Together with Finarte, as an expert, Guido Groppi will select and value the bottles. He is at the head of the new Dipartimento Vini e Distillati of Finarte, which relaunched its expansion strategy in 2017 with the acquisition of Minerva Auctions, a historical Roman auction house based in the seventeenth century Palazzo Odescalchi. A Group whose core business is the organization of public auctions of works of art and precious goods and that now, to be again a reference point for Italian collecting, also bets strongly on wine.