New York, NY – Aulden Cellars-Sotheby’s September 20, 2008 sale of Finest and Rarest Wines achieved $2,867,397, well within presale expectations of $2.3/3.3 million*. The sale comprised 1,361 lots including wines from Bordeaux, Sauternes, Burgundy, Champagne, Rhône and California.
Jamie Ritchie, Head of Sotheby’s Wine department in North and South America, said, “Rare red Burgundies and mature Champagnes continued to bring very strong demand, selling above the high estimates and showing that there is continued demand for rare wine that comes with impeccable provenance. While we saw a small decrease in demand for Bordeaux and Californian wines, the overall sale performed extremely well and the wine market showed stability.”
The sale’s top lot was a twelve bottle assortment of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 1990, which brought $30,250 and was followed by two twelve bottle lots of Château Latour 1982 recently removed from professional storage, which sold for $19,360 and $18,150. An impressive private collection of Rarest Burgundy and Landmark Bordeaux saw strong results, bringing $238,672, easily exceeding the high estimate of $173,550. The sale’s top price for a single-bottle lot was achieved by a Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Romanée Conti 1962, which fetched $13,310 against a presale estimate of $6/9,000.
Other highlights, with prices realized and presale estimates, included:
Champagne
3 magnums 1985 Salon le Mesnil — $10,285 (est. $3/5,000)
1 magnum 1961 Bollinger, RD — $4,538 (est. $2/3,000)
3 magnums 1982 Louis Roederer Cristal Brut — $8,470 (est. $4/6,000)
2 magnums 1989 Krug, Clos du Mesnil — $5,445 (est. $2/3,000)
Burgundy
2 bottles 1959 Musigny Vieilles Vignes, Comte Georges de Vogüé — $7,865 (est. $4/6,000)
4 magnums 1961 Romanée-St-Vivant, Joseph Drouhin — $6,655 (est. $1/1,500)
3 magnums 1964 Chambertin, Clos de Bèze, Joseph Drouhin — $9,075 (est. $3/4,000)
4 magnums 1964 Bonnes Mares, Clair Daü — $10,890 (est. $3,500/5,000)
*Estimates do not include buyer’s premium
