Burgundy topped the bill at Bonhams sale of Fine & Rare Wines in London yesterday, with Romanée-Conti making the top five lots – a dozen 1985 vintage made £92,000 with two cases of 1988 vintage both reaching £69,000 and a case of six bottles of 1993 vintage selling for £29,900.
Whilst prices of young Bordeaux, particularly the first growths, have fallen over the last year, demand remains strong for older vintages. Chateau Lafite from a private Belgian cellar saw prices well above estimate – the 1962 vintage making £3,795 a dozen (estimate £2,600-3,200), the 1963 £2,185 a dozen (estimate £1,200-1,500), 1964 £3,680 a dozen (estimate £2,600-3,200) and 1971 £2,990 a dozen (estimate £2,000-2,600). The 1982 vintage made £21,850, down on the level achieved in 2011 but still faring much better than recent vintages.
A case of Chateau Gruaud Larose 1961 made £2,185 (estimate £1,500-1,800), a dozen Mouton Rothschild 1970 made £1,610 (estimate £1,100-1,300) whilst six bottles of Chateau d’Yquem 1962 made £2,530 (estimate £1,800-2,400).
A private English cellar of rare wines also produced good prices – six bottles of Chateau Latour 1959 made £6,325 (estimate £4,400-5,200) with particularly strong bidding on vintage Port – two bottles of 1896 vintage sold for £978 (three times the estimate of £300-360), one magnum of Quinta do Noval 1927 sold for £897 (estimate £500-600), four bottles of Graham 1935 for £1,610 (estimate £1,200-1,400) and seven bottles of Rebello Valente 1942 made £1,150, over twice its estimate of £420-500.
Outside France, demand was strong for a six bottle vertical of six vintages of Penfold’s Grange – 1981-1986 making £1,265 (estimate £750-850) and six bottles of 1992 Henschke Hill of Grace hitting £1,380 (estimate £950-1,100). Strong bidding on a wide selection of Italian wines saw a case of Tenuta di Trinoro 2000 make £1,265 (estimate £880-1100) and £1,840 secure six bottles of Masseto 1995 (estimate £1,600-2,000).
“The diversity and range of wines offered in this auction resulted in our best sale this year with a total sale value of almost £700,000” commented Richard Harvey, International Director for Fine & Rare Wines.
“The result fully vindicates our aim to produce sales with an interesting variety of wines to appeal to drinkers rather than investors”.
Values stated include buyer’s premium. Details can be found at www.bonhams.com
