In the weird and wonderful world of wine incongruous buying opportunities endlessly present themselves. For example, a friend of mine bought a Bollinger Grande Annee at a local corner shop where they mispriced it as a standard bottle of Bollinger. The price difference is about £70.
I too have had my victories over “the man,” the greatest of which was buying a bottle of 1995 Penfolds Grange at Tesco for £100. I sold it a few years later on F&R for over £300. This was less profitable in absolute terms than my Bollinger VVF 2002, which I bought for £390 and sold for £850.
For the sake of balance I’ve missed a few sitters too, mainly due to false assumptions. I had a chance to bag a bottle of Le Montrachet Grande Cru for £160. I sat on the opportunity for a few weeks and when I went to buy the price had been put up by £100. Devastating. The same happened with an underpriced bottle of Tignanello, showing that I rarely learn hard lessons first time. 😦
Anyway, since I left the wine industry I’ve been less active in arbitrage, although I’ve not lost a knack for snagging a bargain. Here’s the latest example: a bottle of Bouchard Pere & Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 2018 from my local Morrisons for £29, which at a guess is worth 60-80% more. Admittedly there’s a little soiling of the label, which would matter for re-sale but makes no difference for personal consumption. I’m very happy with this, it’s a future Christmas day sorted! There’s 4 bottles left on the shelf, so I’ll watch and wait in hope of further discounting. That’s another tip: stupid can always get stupid-er (although it can also wake up to its stupidity so be sure to not miss out completely).
Dr Martin James 