Auction Procedure
The exact auction procedures varies somewhat between the different regional auctions, but have several things in common. The wines put up for auction must be approved by a tasting panel of the auctioning society before being admitted to the auction. After that, a calling price is decided upon after a tasting by commissioners (explained below). The seller is in principle free to decide how many bottles he wishes to sell, but there is a minimum quantity depending on the wine's classification, and the seller must also provide sufficient bottles for the auction tasting. Typically, a pre-auction tasting is held in the morning of the auction day, where the participants may taste the wines in any order. A small tasting portion of each wine is served to all participants during the auction itself, just before the wine is auctioned. This procedure is sometimes called a "wet wine auction" to differentiate it from a "dry wine auction" where no wines are served. For wines made in very small lots, this means that a significant portion of the quantity produced must be served up for free. A few of the most rare wines are only offered in the morning tasting in some auctions, and the small lots of a few old bottles are not offered for tasting.
Participation in the auction is open to any interested parties, but an entrance ticket must be paid. Formally, the sellers do not sell their wines to the individual participants of the auction, but rather to approved commissioners, which act as intermediaries and cast the actual bids at the auction. These number about 10 per auction. The commissioners collect bids from a number of prospective buyers before and during the auction. In most cases, a wine lot will be divided among several commissioners, with one of them as lead buyer. Commissioners charge around five percent of the auction price for their services.
Read more about this topic: German Wine Auctions
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