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We’re not just about real estate – as it turns out, Sotheby’s knows a thing or two about wine.

Can you imagine paying over $200,000 for a bottle of wine?

Sotheby’s has a 46-year old wine division, Sotheby’s Wine, which is both a retail wine merchant and a wine auctioneer that sold a worldwide total of $60.4 million worth of wine at auction in 2015. (And you thought real estate was expensive!) Sotheby’s Wine broke the world record for the highest price paid for a single standard sized bottle of wine when a bottle of Château Lafite 1869 sold in 2010 at the Lafite Ex Cellars sale in Hong Kong for $232,692. Sotheby’s Wine also broke the record for a wine collection sold at auction when wines from the Cellar of William I. Koch (New York, 19-21 May 2016) brought a total of $21.9 million, with 100% lots sold.

Chances are you won’t find a bottle of wine that costs as much as a house at the Steamboat Wine Festival, but you will find Sotheby’s Wines as one of the event sponsors. You’ll also discover a lot of great wines and, even though it’s a lot to digest, learn something new. We caught up with Glenn Wiedemer, who runs the wine program at Central Park Liquor and has been in the wine industry for over a decade, to get some advice on how to navigate the waters of all that wine at The Steamboat Wine Festival.

Steamboat Sotheby’s: What’s trending right now in the wine industry?

Glenn Wiedemer: The hottest category in the industry by far is rosé. It’s very popular right now. The skin is left in contact with the juice to give it a pink color. These wines are crisp, clean, and fruit focused with no tannins. It’s very food friendly so it crosses a lot of lines in terms of pairings.

If you like wines on the sweeter side, Moscatos are also trendy right now. Moscato is a type of grape that can be white, pink or red and can be found as a still or sparkling wine.

In the reds, blends continue to be very sought after, from Cabernet-based to Merlot-based to Zinfandel-based, typically a blend of 3 to 4 varietals. The saying “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” is true of blended reds.

SS: What’s the can’t-miss event of the festival?

GW: The Farm to Barn Wine dinner that kicks off the event on Wednesday night is spectacular—that’s why it sells out every year. It not only features great wines but fresh, local foods prepared by some of the best chefs. If you want to get in, you have to get in early. I also love the Wine on the Mountain Reserve Tasting on Thursday at the top of the gondola. My favorite thing is taking the gondola down at sunset. It’s also a great way to taste some really nice wines.

SS: Are there any new wine regions to explore?

GW: Portugal is producing some really nice wines from grapes most have not heard of. While known for their port which is produced in the Douro region, there are a variety of great wines also from this region and further south. I’ve tasted some nice light reds that are unoaked and refreshing from this area. Vhino Verde is the most widely consumed of all Portuguese white wines, it’s crisp with a slight effervescence.

SS: Any last words of advice?

GW: Wine doesn’t have to be expensive to be good. People just don’t trust it if it’s below a certain price point but you can get a lot of good wines for under $15/bottle, you just have to do your homework.

Come visit our booth at the Steamboat Stroll event on Friday and get your Steamboat Sotheby’s International Realty wine bottle tote bag, a collaboration with local boutique Ohana, which will come in handy throughout the weekend.

To learn more about the Steamboat Wine Festival click HERE


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