Home > Articles > Q&A > Collecting Q&A: Marilyn Merlot

Collecting Q&A: Marilyn Merlot

Peter D. Meltzer

Posted: Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Q: I have 2 bottles of Marilyn Merlot, 1985 and 1987, both kept in a climate-controlled setting. Is there a place I can contact people interested in buying these? I've heard their value together is over $6,000.

A: While these wines sell at retail from the website marilynmerlot.com for $3,800 and $2,700 respectively, there is little opportunity to sell in the secondary market. You might consider contacting trusted Internet retailers. In 2007, Frank Martell, international director of fine wines at Bonhams & Butterfields, told Wine Spectator associate editor Daniel Sogg that he had seen bottles of the 1985 selling for a few hundred dollars. "Lots of wines are worth more at retail than at auction," he explained. "There's never any rhyme or reason to it."

Have a question about collecting and auctions? E-mail us.

Back to top

Currently on Wine Spectator Online:

• Wine Talk: K.D. Lang
  This Canadian chanteuse indulges her love of wine and food through world travel
• Tasting Highlights: California Rhône
  Nine exceptional new Syrahs and Grenaches from Santa Barbara and Paso Robles
• Unfiltered: Napa's Copia Shuts Its Doors, for Now at Least
  Plus: Drinking wine to feed hungry children and an Elvis sighting in Paso Robles
• Health Research Looks to Grapes
  Scientists hope to unlock the potential of compounds found in grapes and wine
• Wine Shipping Restrictions in Massachusetts Ruled Unconstitutional
  Both in- and out-of-state wineries may now ship directly to Massachusetts residents; volume caps struck down