An interview with Stephen Williams

Stephen Williams began trading as a wine merchant in 1982. Since then, he has become a leading figure in the world of fine wine, with more than 20,000 clients in 70 countries. He oversees international operations of The Antique Wine Company from its headquarters in London, and spends much of his time traveling the world in search of the finest old vintages.

Brix: How did you get started in the wine industry?

SW: Wine was a hobby. I enjoyed wine when I visited the continent on holiday (England was mainly a beer and spirits market until the early 1980s). Visiting vineyards when driving through France excited my interest, which became a passion. I began bringing a few cases back and selling them amongst friends and, as you can imagine, the network of friends grew. That’s one of the things about wine: it brings people together.

Brix: What motivated you to start The Antique Wine Company?

SW: When I was selling wine in the $10 to $20 price range I did really well, but then the major supermarket chains in England also started to sell wine, and it all became a bit of a price war. This forced me to move up-market into specialist areas that were not so fiercely competitive. Mind you, I would never have believed that just a few years later I would break the world record by selling the world’s most valuable wine for $100,000!

Brix: What is the best thing about your work?

SW: People expect me to answer that it’s dealing with such an enjoyable, quality product. Yes, it is very satisfying to drink great wine, but by far what I find most interesting is the people that I get to meet. Our clients are really interesting types who come from many different countries, cultures and backgrounds, and who have reached outstanding success in their fields. Our business is all about maintaining close relationships with them.

Brix: What has been the strangest or most challenging request from a client?

SW: One of our clients spent $3M in one year filling the cellar of a brand new home in the USA. He and his wife went to great lengths to ensure the materials used to build the house were eco-friendly. This included vegetable-based paint, solar heating throughout, etc. We delivered all the wine to the new cellar, including many bottles of Domaine de la Romanée Conti going back to the 1920s and 30s. Having been sourced directly from the domaine, the bottles had natural cellar mold under the capsule on top of the cork. Despite this being a natural and harmless feature, the client insisted we dip the bottles in hydrogen peroxide to avoid having any mold spores in the house. Actually, we refused to do that, and suggested the client go for younger wine. We finished up buying back the whole cellar!

Brix: What appellations are most sought after?

SW: Pomerol, Pauillac and Vosne-Romanée, in that order.

Brix: In 2006, you purchased and sold the world’s most expensive white wine—a Château d’Yquem 1787. Can you tell us more about this sale?

SW: This was fantastic. We traced the bottle back to France’s most famous wine merchant, Raymond Boudoin, who founded the magazine La Revue du Vin de France, and was the supplier to all the great French restaurants at that time, including La Tour d’Argent in Paris. We sold the bottle to an American client, who still has it intact; however, knowing this client it might even be consumed at some point.

Brix: Do clients purchase antique wines primarily for consumption or investment?

SW: It can be one or the other, or both.

Brix: Are most of these antique wines consumable?

SW: Yes, very fine wine from Bordeaux, Port—and Burgundy—which surprises many people. Some wines are capable of lasting for more than a human lifetime. Wines that I have personally found delicious, despite considerable age, include 1865, 1893 and 1921 Château d’Yquem, 1870 Château Lafite, 1900 Château Margaux, 1929 Château Latour, and 1945 Mouton Rothschild and 1947 Château Cheval Blanc that are still getting even better year by year.

Brix: How can you guarantee the authenticity of a wine?

SW: Usually by looking into the eyes, and the cellar, of the vendor.

Brix: Are forgeries or fakes common in your line of work?

SW: Genuine old wines are common; fakes and forgeries by comparison are rare and very occasional, although one might be led to think differently with all the sensationalism in the press. Let’s not forget that there are around 50 Classified Growth Châteaux that for the past 200 years have each been producing an average of 300,000 bottles of wine annually. There are still many cellars, especially in Europe, with original cases of these wines.

Brix: Your company’s head office is in London, but do you have a favorite place to drink wine in this city?

SW: Restaurant The Square in London. Great wine list, great value for money, with sensible mark-ups. There’s also a great wine bar close to our office called The Sampler with more than 80 wines by the glass, including Petrus, and many other first growths.

Brix: Other than London, what is your favorite location for food and wine?

SW: Bordeaux, New York, Las Vegas, Hong Kong, on a yacht off Porto Cervo in Sardinia’s Costa Smeralda. There are also some fantastic hotels with great wine lists in the alpine villages of France, Austria and Switzerland.

Brix: What is the best wine you’ve had in the last six to 12 months?

SW: 1961 Château Petrus, 1953 Lafite in Magnum, and Yquem 1893.

Brix: What do you think are the most under- and over-rated grape varietals or regions?

SW: Under-rated: Vintage Port, Hermitage and Côte Rôtie. Over-rated: Heavily extracted garage wines from Bordeaux, and similar wines from Australia and California.

Brix: For your own personal consumption and entertaining at home, what wines do you always have on hand?

SW: Château Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion, Pavillon Rouge de Château Margaux, and lots of Burgundy including Armand Rousseau and Ponsot (about ten years old).

Brix: What was your most memorable wine experience?

SW: Without question it was The Antique Wine Company’s “Three Centuries of Château Lafite” event at Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat in France. It was a fantastic experience to share more than 300 bottles of Lafite, dating back to 1870, with 50 of our clients. The guest list included personalities from the music and film businesses, royalty, heads of state, as well as entrepreneurs and wine enthusiasts from all over the world.

Let’s hear it for liquid investments

In Williams’ opinion, a well managed vintage-wine portfolio should provide returns of at least 15% per annum—enough for a tidy profit and some very pleasurable drinking. While most enthusiasts held on to their cellars during the recent recession, nervous investors took profits, many restaurants were forced to sell wine to raise money, and a number of fine wine funds began de-leveraging. With so much stock coming onto the market at the same time, the market was bound to correct, and some prices inevitably fell. But the silver lining has been some great deals on a number of blue chip investment grade wines—and golden opportunities for new investors looking to get into the game.

Stephen Williams offers a few tips:

• ŸStick to wines that you personally will want to keep and drink, but that are also of such premium quality that they will provide a healthy return on investment.
• ŸVintage is vital. Restrict your purchasing to a good mix of the best vintages which, over the last fifty years, would include: 1959, 1961, 1982, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1996, 2000 and 2005. The 59 Latour and 61 Palmer, for example, are so rare and in such demand, they will continue to be as precious as the crown jewels.
• ŸBordeaux should represent a minimum of 75% of your portfolio, with the focus on the region’s iconic trophy wines, including the supermodel first growths such as Latour, Margaux and Haut-Brion.
• ŸA mere handful of exquisite Burgundies qualify, but look out for Domaine Romanée-Conti, Coche-Dury, Comtes Lafon, De Vogue and Armand Rousseau.
• ŸThe Rhone Valley also offers potential: Guigal’s trio of single vineyard Côte Rôties (La Landonne, La Mouline and La Turque) can deliver some stellar returns.

Contact Stephen Williams at:

The Antique Wine Company
Suite 211, 52 Upper Street
London  N1 OQH
England
Tel:  00 44 (0)207 359 1109
www.antique-wine.com

This entry was posted on Friday, January 22nd, 2010 at 4:25 pm and is filed under People. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.