As dining rooms close in response to COVID-19, rare wine sales provide a much-needed revenue source for restaurants — and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for collectors
to sell off their wine lists. And at fine dining restaurants, cellars full of scarce, “once-in-a-lifetime” bottles represent big investments that operators now need to recoup as quickly as possible.
But even as they sell sought-after wines for a steal, these restaurants are met with challenges in offloading their most prized bottles. “There are always buyers, and there are always people who are willing and able to take advantage of a situation like this,” says Jordan Salcito, director of wine special projects at Momofuku and the founder of the canned wine beverage Ramona. “The problem is, no one that I know is thinking about buying right now.
With over 150 bottles of Champagne on the list at each location, including rare bottles, the bars carry a significant amount of inventory that could potentially bring a much-needed infusion of cash. Pelka says pivoting to a retail operation wouldn’t make sense — he was reluctant to put his staff at risk of exposure to customers. Plus, he adds, ”there’s not a huge amount of everyday consumers who are going out and purchasing expensive bottles of Champagne as the economy collapses around them.
Other auction houses, like Zachys, are collaborating with fine dining restaurants to help them liquidate their cellars. “We look at restaurants coming to us to sell as colleagues during an unprecedented and difficult time,” says Zachys president Jeff Zacharia. “We can help because we can sell massive amounts of high-end wine very quickly.”
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Why Are My Dreams So Vivid Right Now?Even our nightmares may help us adjust to our new reality
Read more »
Why Putin’s favourite oil firm dumped its Venezuelan assetsThe Russian oil firm Rosneft sold all its Venezuelan assets to an unnamed Russian government entity
Read more »
Chris D'Elia on why he liked being 'tied up' and 'tortured' on Netflix's 'You'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ9cN01ILXM&feature=youtu.be Chris D'Elia has created some of the decade's most memorable characters on the standup stage, like that girl that gets way too loud when…
Read more »
Why America is scared and confused: Even the experts are getting it wrongAmerica’s best scientists and its vaunted public health agency are still learning on the job about the coronavirus. For a terrified American public, the kaleidoscope of changing messages has created more fear, confusion and distrust
Read more »
Why Pizza Chains Are Weathering The Coronavirus Downturn Better Than Their Restaurant CounterpartsThe past two weeks have provided an early glimpse of just how badly the COVID-19 pandemic could affect the restaurant industry in the long term.
Read more »