Simi Hotel Del Monte Claret Value

[DDoran]

I recently aquired a bottle of Simi Vinyard Claret labled for the Hotel Del Monte in Carmel, California. The bottle has no vintage but I know from Simi that they only made this wine from 1931 to 1945. I would like to establish a value and a potential buyer/trader. Any help?

[Jerry D Mead]

That's a toughy. It will be a matter of finding a willing buyer, as likely to be someone into old bottles as to old wine. Simi sold those 1/2 bottles out of the tasting room for a few dollars for several years and there's a lot of those bottles around.

They sold them that way because in the half bottle size they were very uneven in quality (and this was 20 years ago)...some were tasty and some were definitely over the hill. So they sold them more or less as souvenirs with a caution that they might not be drinkable (some of us opened them anyway out of curiosity).

Its greatest value might be in keeping it around as a conversation piece.

JDM

[DDoran]

Thanks for the info but this is a full 4/5 bottle, not a half. Make any difference?

[Jerry D Mead]

Not a great deal...it will do much better as a family heirloom to show-off to friends than it will be a source of getting rich.

JDM

[winoweenie]

I bought a case of the 1935 cab and zin back in the 80`s for $5.00 per. Zelma told me that the 375`s were used back then as salesmen samples. You`re right curmy about the quality varience. We opened about half of them with only a few still being drinkable. Too bad they weren`t sold 20 years earlier. They were reported to be super wines. ( The best was one of the 35 zins. It was almost sensational..Just a hint of vinegar ) WW