William H. Edgerton, ASA (left) and Annie R. Edgerton, CSW (right)
With over 50 years of combined experience, the father-daughter team of William and Annie Edgerton can help with your wine and spirits appraisal and authentication needs. William is an internationally-recognized expert in wine appraisal and counterfeit identification and has been certified as an Accredited Senior Wine Appraiser by the American Society of Appraisers. Annie is an Accredited Member of the Appraisers Association of America, she holds the Diploma in Wines and Spirits (Wine and Spirit Education Trust,) is a Certified Sommelier (Court of Master Sommeliers,) and is a Certified Specialist of Wine and Certified Specialist of Spirits (Society of Wine Educators.)
From 1989 to 2005 Edgerton published the WINE PRICE FILE, the largest available listing of retail and auction prices of wine in print at that time, which was described by the renowned wine critic Robert M. Parker Jr., as “An essential source of current information on the value of fine wine.”
From 2006 through 2018 William Edgerton founded and maintained the website www.wineauctionprices.com, which provided detailed results, including the number of bottles in each lot, from major cataloged wine auctions worldwide. This site was one of the world’s largest compilations of wine auction results available to the public and contained about 600,000 entries.
Both Edgertons have attended and presented wine seminars and have authored articles or been quoted in various journals. William has travelled extensively in French, German, Italian, and Californian vineyards. Annie has visited vineyards across the US, France, Turkey, Portugal, and Sicily. Since 2009 she writes and maintains the Wine Minx blog.
Both have been heavily involved in the identification of counterfeit wines.
Getting Started With an Appraisal
There is never a charge for an initial consultation, but when you discuss your requirements it would be helpful to know:
- What is the purpose of the appraisal?
- Is there an existing inventory of the wine or spirits, or will one need to be made?
- Roughly what kinds of wine/spirits are included and what is the approximate quantity?
- Has the wine been stored in temperature-control?
In most cases it will be possible to quote the exact amount an appraisal will cost. Wine appraisal pricing is based on the type of wine being appraised, whether or not the inventory is in computer-readable form, and determining how many singletons are on the list.
If an inventory needs to be made we can arrange to have it done anywhere in the U.S., in many cases by local wine experts. If wine has to be tasted to determine if storage has been adequate, tasting notes can be prepared or if shipping has to be done, detailed packing instructions will be provided.
Most appraisals can be completed promptly, and expedited service is available.
To inquire about an appraisal, contact us at: edgertonwine@me.com
Qualifications
William H. Edgerton
Certification and Education
- American Society of Appraisers Certified as an Accredited Senior Appraiser continuously since May 1970
Re-certified in Personal Property/Wines, Fine and Rare, January 2002. Re-accredited every five years - Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) compliant through February 2022
- Attendance at dozens of seminars over the years devoted to appraisal in general, wine subjects at the Society of Wine Educators conferences, Wine Spectator Grand Tastings, industry-sponsored events and others
- Dartmouth College B. A.
Resources
- Instant access to over 2,000,000 wine auction selling prices
- 520-volume personal wine reference library
- Files of most English language wine periodicals
- Subscriptions to all major wine auction catalogs worldwide
Articles and Publications
- Editor-Publisher Wine Price File in 18 editions from 1998-2004; contained hundreds of thousands of retail and auction prices for wine
- Co-editor International Wine Guide published in 1991 by Sony Electronic Publishing Company
- Editor-Publisher Wine Investors Monthly Market Report 1993-1999; wine auction prices on computer disk
- Editor-Publisher www.wineauctionprices.com 2005 to 2018; contains 600,000 wine auction prices
- Authored article entitled Taking On the Fakes: Advice From The Anti-fraud Frontline in World of Fine Wine, Britain’s finest wine periodical, Issue 37, 2012
- Recently featured and quoted in articles in New York Times and Wall Street Journal
- Wine columnist weekly for The Advocate newspaper, Stamford, CT for 2 years, 1980s
- Author of four non-fiction books and one wine-related work of fiction entitled Wine Killer
Speeches, Seminars, Events
- IVYFON Family Office Network conference speaker, 2016
- American Wine Society: led seminar and conducted tasting, Practical Matters of Interest to Wine Collectors: Storing, Buying, Selling, Insuring and Valuing
- Society of Wine Educators: led seminar and conducted tasting: Late Harvest Wines of Alsace
- American Society of Appraisers International Conferences lectures and conducted tastings: Life After Cabernet and Chardonnay, and How To Be A Wine Expert
- Conducted tastings for three ASA Connecticut Chapter meetings, one ASA New Jersey Chapter and the ASA Boston Chapter
- Conducted seminar and tasting for the Eisner-Amper accounting firm, and two seminars and tastings for local law firms
- Interviewed on CNBC which resulted in 200 telephone requests for a list of recommended value wines
- CBS Morning Show on camera interview focusing on counterfeit wine, October 2013
- Interview focusing on seven deadly wine disasters including heat/cold exposure American Express Co. publication Black Ink Fall/Winter 2013
- Proposed and attended a tasting of twelve presumed counterfeit wines with Robert Parker, Jr., the world’s best known wine critic, and four other wine industry professionals. Mr. Parker agreed that all were counterfeit. June 2011
- Heavy focus on forensic examinations of counterfeit wines with a dozen clients and hundreds of bottles deemed counterfeit
- Spoke to the New York City Wine Media Guild: The Case of Fake Wines, November 2013
- Interviewed on BBC Radio Live discussing fraud and heat affected wines, August 2014
- Decanter Magazine, interviewed by Howard Goldberg in Action News on Fraud, September 2012
- Managed the first ten wine auctions including catalog preparation for Morrell & Co., New York 1994-1995
- Discussed counterfeit wine identification on the PBS Nightly Business Report, December, 2017.
Partial Recent Client List
Insurance Companies
Organizations
Hundreds of Individual Clients |
Law Firms
Governmental
Court Cases
|
Annie Edgerton, DipWSET, CS, CSW, CSS
Certification and Education
- Wine & Spirits Education Trust, Level 4 Diploma in Wines and Spirits, August 2019
- Society of Wine Educators, CSS – Certified Specialist of Spirits, July 2019
- Certified Sommelier, Court of Master Sommeliers, March 2014
- Society of Wine Educators, CSW – Certified Specialist of Wine, August 2011
- Wine & Spirits Education Trust, WSET Advanced Certificate (with Distinction), November 2011
- Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) compliant through January 20, 2019
- Certified in the Art of Sabrage (sabering open Champagne), July 2011
- Tuscan Wine Masters Academy, April 2012
- Napa Valley Rocks (soil character focus), March 2011
- Wines of Portugal Academia do Vinho Level 3 Advanced, October 2014
- Society of Wine Educators, 2010 – Present
- Wine Spectator’s Wine Experience, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2019, 2020
- Windows on the World Wine School (with Kevin Zraly), 2003
- Dartmouth College – B. A. 1993
Articles and Publications
- Freelance Wine and Spirits Writer for Connecticut syndicated newspapers 1997-2001 including articles on Affordable Holiday Wines, Microbrew Beers, Loire Valley Wines, Connecticut Wine Trail Wineries and more.
- Since 2009, blogs www.wineminxannie.com (previous posts on www.wineminx.blogspot.com ) with over 50 articles including: NYC wine bars, Wines of Turkey, Arizona Wine, Franciacorta Sparkling Wines, Napa Valley Chardonnays, and many more.
- Featured and quoted in “A Sparkling Conversation†article for Bespoke Concierge Magazine Winter 2014/2015 regarding differences between Champagne and Prosecco.
Wine Industry Experience
- Appraiser, Edgerton Wine Appraisals, 1995 – Present
Creates wine cellar inventories and determines fair market/auction values; to date for over 300 clients’ cellars.
Gathered and examined information relevant to wine fraud and storage-related damage. - Host of Informative Wine Tastings, 2002 – Present
Organizes and hosts wine tastings/classes for small and large groups in order to raise participants’ awareness and experience of wine. Topics include: Bubbly, Affordable French Reds, and Wine 101: Introduction and Overview.
Curates and hosts wine dinners, working with chefs on multi-course paired dinners; recently at The Lion, NYC. - Social Media Maven and Sales Associate, Flatiron Wines & Spirits, 2021 – Present Manages the social media accounts of the respected merchant and advises and assists customers in-store.
- Associate, Tribeca Wine Merchants, NY, 2005 – 2006
Worked part-time assisting clients with high-end wine purchases, as well as advising walk-in clients and organizing nightly in-store wine tastings. - Wine Appraiser, Phillips Auctions & Appraisals, NY, 1998
Valued wines for prospective auction clients. (Note: Phillips is no longer involved with wine auctions in New York.) - Auction Assistant, Morrell & Company Fine Wine Auctions, NY, 1994 – 1996 (occasional)
Handled absentee bids for one auction, acted as liaison for telephone bidders for two auctions.
