|
|
THE WINE SPECTATOR ON COLLECTING
- Dec. 31, 1988
"Authorized Reprint"
What Is a Collection Worth?
By Jean T. Barrett Los Angeles
The tools of Roger Livdahl's
trade include a hammer and nails, a well-worn jumpsuit, fleece-lined
boots, a couple of thermometers and humidistats , several clamp-on high-intensity
lamps, a clean white cloth and a trademarked, plastic-sealed piece of
cardboard called an ullage meter.
If Livdahl were to appear on
the old "What's My Line?" television show with the above clues, few
would connect him with the world of fine wine. He occupies a unique
niche in that world: He is the only wine appraiser in the United Stated
to be certified by the American Society of Appraisers, the national
professional organization of the appraisal field.
The tools of his trade are indispensable,
says Livdahl, to inventory a private wine cellar, which he characterizes
as "a cold, dirty job". The jumpsuit and thick boots guard against dust
and dankness, the hammer and nails are for unsealing and resealing wooden
cases of Bordeaux, the white cloth provides a backdrop for evaluating
a wine's color and sediment, and ullage meter is used to determine the
level of fill in the bottles.
Livdahl conducts his singular
business out of a modest, low-slung apartment building in a lushly wooded
neighborhood of the Hollywood Hills, an area that once was home to stars
such as David Niven, Hopalong Cassidy, Jeanette MacDonald, Charlie Chaplin
and Ronald Coleman. A given day might find him peering into a Le Cave
wine unit in a kitchen in Bel Air, completing an inventory of the contents
in order to render an appraisal to the attorneys representing a divorcing
spouse. Or he might be in his home office evaluating the 20-page cellar
list of a prominent physician for insurance purposes.
Livdahl, 50, decided there was
a need for accurate wine appraisal when he moved to Southern California
as a gift manufacturer's representative six years ago and needed a valuation
on his own wine collection. He called 16 area retailers asking for estimates
on four wines. "I was very disappointed in the results I got, because
I realized these people were guessing," recalls Livdahl.
He then contacted Christie's
auction house, but whenhe learned their fee structure at the time -
$1500 per person per day for two appraisers, plus travel and expenses
from New York or Chicago - he balked. Finally, he checked the major
professional associations of appraisers. None knew of an appraiser specializing
in wine, he said.
"I had thought for a long time
that there was a lack of information about old wines," remembers Livdahl.
"When I got to L.A. and I started calling around and the best information
I could get was guesses, that pretty well told me what I had to do."
He set about creating a data base of wine information, laying the groundwork
for his new career.
Intitially, Livdahl gathered
his information through a myraid of sources: retailer brochures, auction-house
mailings, wine magazines and newsletters, and correspondence with major
fine and rare wine sources. Today, six years later, he maintains data
on more than 35,000 wines, from 1706 Tokay (which sold for 540 pounds,
$945 at Christie's in London in July 1987) to 1987 Bordeaux futures.
The final step was to seek accreditation.
Livdahl went after ASA certification based on its ethical emphasis and
strict standards, but he ended up having to develop an official course
of study as well as a final exam, because the ASA lacked a wine program.
Livdahl obtained his ASA certification in 1986.
In addition to keeping complex
price records on 35,000 wines, Livdahl has quantified the effect that
a lengthy list of faults and attributes have on a wine's estimated value.
Are the labels torn? That may take 10 percent off the estimated value.
Is the wine in a double magnum? Multiply the estimated value by five,
to reflect the four-bottle volume plus a factor for the better aging
quality that the large bottle provides.
The records don't only include
dry-as-dust data; they also feature tasting scores and, in some cases,
quotes from wine authorities and publications whose opinions Livdahl
respects: Michael Broadbent, Clive Coates, Hugh Johnson, Robert Parker,
The Wine Spectator, The Underground Wine Journal, Food & Wine and
Wine Value Reports, an Illinois-based journal that has ceased publication.
This appetite for detail, coupled
with his large information bank, helps Livdahl stay on top of constantly
fluctuating prices in the international market for fine and rare wines
- and that can pay off for clients. Livdahl was recently retained in
a divorce case by a suspicious spouse who believed her husbank was concealing
the true worth of his wine collection. The husband has provided an appraisal
of a 4,000-bottle collection, rendered by a prominent Beverly Hills
wine retailer, indicating a value of $102, 700. Livdahl's estimation
of the same collection, calculated within 60 days of the previous appraisal,
was $192,012.
When wine collectors Connie and
Ed Easley of Dallas realized they needed an up-to-date appraisal of
their cellar, they retained Livdahl. He performed the appraisal, and
has since provided the couple with advice on paring down their collection
to a more manageable size. "Roger has given us the prime drinking times
and advice on whether to sell, hold, drink or collect, " says Connie.
"He's made tables and charts as to drinkability and investment. It's
really easy with a wine collection not to know what you've got. He's
made it very clear for us.
" One area in which Livdahl says
he is increasingly involved is wine theft, which he calls "the silent
crime of the 1980's." He cites the recent case of a lawyer who lost
900 bottle worth $340,000. The thieves "took Bordeaux only, 1961 and
backward, to his 1899 Margaux," says Livdahl grimly, "and did not even
take the ullaged bottles; they sorted them out as they went.
"If a painting is stolen the
world is immediately informed. It being one of a kind, it becomes its
own best witness," Livdahl observes. "A 1945 Chateau Lafite-Rothchild,
however, looks like any other '45 Lafite." To combat this, he devised
a proprietary bottle marking system called the National Rare Wine Registry,
consisting of a visible seal on the label and an identifying code in
invisible ink So far, about a dozen collectors use Livdahl's registry.
It's a service not just to the owner. It's an alert to the ethical auction
house, restaurateur, hotel operator or retailer.
Having tracked so many wine values
over time, Livdahl gives conservative advice to those who are buying
wine for investment purposes, recommending selected Bordeaux first growths
and super seconds. He notes, " I would do a very careful choice of Bordeaux
of lesser reputation than the first two categories. Vintage Port of
the great houses in good vintages is a sure bet. Fine Germans are going
to have their big day, because the price of Sauternes is insane, absolutely
rediculous. I wouldn't recommend that anyone go terribly deep in California,
but if you do, stay with Cabernet or late-harvest Rieslings and Gewürztraminers".
Livdahl is bearish on current
Bordeaux vintages, calling the prices for 1985's and 1986's "atrocious,"
and saying that older vintages such as 1982, 1983, 1979 and 1981 offer
better value.
Asked where to buy these wines,
Livdahl smiles and answers "Europe." He explains that it is difficult
to realize a significant profit buying wines at retail in America and
then reselling them a a later date, considering the constraints against
the sale of alcoholic beverages by private parties. On the other hand,
says Livdahl, the savvy investor buying in quantity in Europe can do
quite well, even in just five years.
|
