Woody Wu · Fine and Rare Wine Search · REF WW-RW-01
Rare Wine Search
The bottle no shop has. Found, vetted and priced, and you buy it directly.
THE PROBLEM THIS SOLVES
The wines people most want are the ones no shop carries: a birth year, an allocation that sold out before release, a magnum of something that was only ever made in small numbers. They still exist, in auction catalogues, in the back rooms of a few merchants, and in private cellars. Finding them is the easy part. Knowing which of them to trust, and what they should cost, is the job.
A bottle with a gap in its history can be worth a fraction of one that came straight from the cellar it was made in, and look identical in a photograph.
WHAT I DO
I look for the wine you want across the places it actually surfaces: the online sales at Christie's and Sotheby's, the merchants who deal in back vintages, and the collectors and trade contacts I know. For each bottle I find, I tell you where it is, what its provenance looks like, what it should cost delivered to you, and whether I would buy it.
You buy it directly, from the house or the seller, on your own account. If it is at auction, I can price it for you properly with The Bid Sheet.
WHAT YOU GET
1. Where it is.
Every credible source I find for the wine, vintage and format you want, with a link or an introduction.
2. Whether to trust it.
Provenance, storage history, fill and condition where they are known, and what is missing. The lots to avoid are marked, with the reason.
3. What it should cost.
Recent prices for the same wine and vintage, and the true delivered cost to you, including premiums, tax, shipping and import where they apply. Anything I cannot confirm is marked unverified.
4. An honest answer.
Sometimes the right answer is that the bottle is not worth chasing, or that a different vintage is the better buy. You will hear that before you pay for a search.
HOW IT WORKS
Ask.
Tell me the wine, the vintages, how many bottles, your budget and where it would be delivered. Email is enough.
Hear back within two business days.
Either a search plan and the fee, or an honest reason not to search. Nothing is charged until you agree.
The search.
Usually one to two weeks, longer for the truly scarce.
You buy.
Directly from the seller, on your own account.
WHAT I DO NOT DO
I do not buy, bid, hold your money, or ship or import wine on your behalf. I am not a merchant and I do not sell wine.
I take no commission and no payment from any seller, merchant, auction house or consignor I point you to. The only person who pays me is you, and the fee is the same whether you buy or not.
I have consulted on wine auctions for Christie's and Sotheby's in the past. I am not affiliated with either house, and this service is not endorsed by either.
THE FEE
One search: $250 CAD, flat, agreed before any work starts.
If the wine turns up at auction and you want every lot priced before you bid, the $250 is credited toward a Bid Sheet for that sale.
WHY ME
I hold the WSET and ISG Diplomas. I have consulted on wine auctions for Christie's and Sotheby's, and spent three years based in Burgundy and Piedmont, working close to growers and buying for private clients. I know which cellars a bottle should have come from, and what it looks like when it did not.
TO REQUEST A SEARCH
The wine, the vintages, how many bottles, your budget and where it would go. That is enough to start. Searches are for adults of legal drinking age.
DIRECT ANSWERS
How do I find a rare wine that no shop sells?
Rare wines surface in auction sales, with specialist merchants who deal in back vintages, and in private cellars. The hard part is judging provenance and price. Rare Wine Search is a flat-fee service from a sommelier who has consulted on fine wine auctions: he finds where the bottle can be bought, vets it, and advises, and you buy directly. $250 CAD per search, never a commission.