One of the most frequent questions I get concerns the private sale of wine. A common scenario is where someone has been given a bottle as a present some time ago or alternatively, they may have inherited it, and they are now interested in monetizing it. Without wanting to sound unduly negative, the prospect of getting any money whatsoever for the bottle is extremely remote.
First of all, any serious buyer of wine is going to want to know its provenance – who has owned it previously and under what conditions it has been stored. Ideally, wine should be stored in a climate controlled environment at a temperature somewhere between 55F and 65F. See Home Wine Storage for details. If it hasn’t been stored within this temperature range for any length of time, the condition will deteriorate rapidly and it will have no resale value. Secondly, most collectors are interested in a case rather than a single bottle and thirdly, in Ontario, a private citizen is not allowed to sell wine to another private citizen. So unless you are a serious wine collector, my advice is to forget about trying to sell an individual bottle.
Instead, consider preparing a special occasion meal, open the bottle, and cross your fingers that it is drinkable. A perfect time to do that would be on “Open That Bottle Night”. The concept was created in 2000 by long time wine columnists Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher, and is an annual occasion that aims to motivate people to reconnect with each other over a bottle, and create good memories with friends and family. it takes place towards the end of February. Use Google to find the exact date.
On the other hand, if you are a serious wine collector, you can provide details of the wine’s provenance, and you are looking to offload a case or more, you can sell it abroad, typically in the USA or Hong Kong. Another option is to either donate it to a registered charity via an Auction or sell it via an online auction. Iron Gate can help in any of these scenarios and can also handle estate sales.
Vinfolio
is based in California and provides an online trading platform which facilitates the direct sale of wine from one private collector to another. However note that this practice is illegal in Ontario.