Wine in the house - Currents

Cheers, July-August, 2002

For some restaurateurs, buying wine at auction has become a necessary evil. Now, after breaking off an auction relationship with Christie's, the Zachys family has launched the independent Zachys Wine Auctions. During the 1990s, the worldwide market for rare and collectible wines at auction exploded; from 1993 to 2001 the annual value at auction grew from $14 million to $100 million; In the U.S., the market grew from $65.1 million in 2000 to $68.5 million in 2001.

Of course, Zachys is not the only well-known New York retailer involved in fine wine auctions. Morrell in Manhattan, features its own live events, as does Acker Merrall & Condit, a long-time fixture on Manhattan's Upper West Side. And the largest players in this area remain Aulden Cellars-Sotheby's and recent alliance formed between Christie's and New York Wine Warehouse. Still, Zachys Auctions is optimistic about its prospects. "As a family-owned business, we can bring to our auction division the same high level of wine expertise and customer care that we have offered in our retail division for the last 58 years. Larger organizations just cannot provide that kind of personal attention and service," said Jeff Zacharia. The group assembled by Zachys to drive the auction business includes Ursula Hermacinski, an acclaimed wine auctioneer who co-founded the Zachys-Christie's Wine Auction Department in 1995; Fritz Hatton, one of the country's top wine auctioneers; and Kevin Swersey, a world-renowned wine authority and co-president of the Connoisseur's Advisory Group.