2008 Sine Qua Non Estate Allocation

The 2008 Sine Qua Non (SQN) Estate allocations have been announced.  They are 3 x Syrah “The Duel” (WA 96-98) and 3 x Grenache “The Duel” (WA 95-98) all sold together for $1320.  Plus, there is a white wine “The Monkey” (WA 92-94), which is a Rhone-style blend of Roussanne, Viognier, and Chardonnay.  Allocations of “The Monkey” range from three to six bottles at $100 each. 

Buy “The Duel”; it’s a no-brainer for both the speculator and the consumer.  Past years of Eleven Confessions Syrah and Grenache sell for $450 and up, and 2008 SQN “The Duel” should be no different.  A speculator could reasonably expect to sell four of these at auction, paying the 20% auction house commission, and let the profits pay for the last two.  As for SQN “The Monkey”, buy it only if you want to drink it.

Followers of the ratings will notice that the barrel sample scores for the 2008 SQN “The Duel” are a couple of points lower than past years.  Don’t worry, it’s the same great wine, just a different critic.  The WA reviewer for the 2008 SQN is Antonio Galloni, not Robert Parker.  Galloni is taking over responsibility the Wine Advocate reviews for California and Washington.  Buy the 2008 SQN Estate bottlings with confidence.

2009 Futo Allocation

The 2009 Futo allocation is announced.  The deadline for buying your allocation is February 21st.  The wine got 96 points from Wine Advocate (WA), and is sold by allocation for $225.  By the time you pay local sales tax and shipping, expect your cost to be around $250.  If you sell, expect to by clipped for 20% auction house fees, so a final price of $300 is what you will need to break even.  You will also need to pay to have the wine shipped to the auction house.

Does this make sense?  For the 2004 vintage, (RP 96, first vintage) the lowest ask on wine-searcher is $300.  The 2007 Futo (RP 98) is also a $300+ wine.  All the other Futo vintages scored either 95 or 95+, and it appears that all can presently be bought for under $250.  It is worth noting, that the cheaper vintages (2005, 2006, and 2008) all appear to be in low supply at the sub-$250 level; there are many more offers above $300.  Buying the 2009 Futo to flip immediately does not make much sense.  I would expect to come close to breaking even.

However, a speculator might be willing to take a small loss on the 2009 vintage to ensure an allocation for the potentially better scoring (WA 95-98) 2010 vintage.  Alternatively, the 2009 Futo can be held for a few years.  Futo is very close to greatness.  If it can pull off a couple of 100 point vintages in the future, it could very well push all older vintages up to the next price level.  Futo has never earned less than 95 points from the WA, and annual production is only around 1000 cases.  My recommendation is to buy.