A Krug Collection 1949: A Must Have For Krug Lovers

A bottle of Krug Collection 1949 will go under the hammer in Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions’ Fine Wine, Port & Champagne Sale on Thursday 20th February, alongside high quality wines with first class provenance for every taste and budget.

It is believed there are fewer than a dozen bottles of Krug Collection 1949 in the world. When speaking in 2007 about the Krug Collection 1949, Olivier Krug, director of Krug Champagne house and head of the tasting committee said: “It’s a great and rare champagne which I have probably tasted myself only twice or three times in my life, no more…It comes from one of those fantastic years we had after the war. It was a very small vintage for Krug…When you are a Krug lover and you see this bottle it’s not a matter of price, it’s a question of ‘Wow’, I found one.”

This acclaimed vintage comes in its original presentation box and has a letter of authentication from Krug. It is estimated at £3,500-4,500. [Lot 43]

From the oldest established champagne house, Ruinart comes three magnums of 1988 vintage Dom Ruinart. Founded in 1729 by Nicolas Ruinart, the house first produced ‘wine with bubbles’ as a business gift for clients of his brother’s cloth business. Six years later, the family swapped cloth for champagne after the success of their sparkling wine. The magnums are estimated to achieve £800-1,000. [Lot 40]

100 cases of excellent privately owned red and white Burgundy, which has been in professional storage since purchase ‘En Primeur’ (meaning to purchase wine early whilst a vintage is still in the barrel) includes 12 bottles of Domaine Marc Morey Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru 2005. It is estimated to sell for £1,200-1,500. [Lot 97]

Two bottles of one of the rarest Chateau d’Yquem vintages, 1919, highlight the selection of sweet winesin the sale. Wines from Chateau d’Yquem are known for their longevity and these the two bottles have been authenticated by the cellar master, who confirmed they were in very good condition. Yquem also replaced the corks and capsules and filled the ullage space with nitrogen to prevent oxidation before new labels were added. These rare survivors are sold separately and estimated at £1,200-1,500 [Lot 335] and £800-1,000. [Lot 336]

Other single-cellar consignments in the auction include some superb Rhones from Chateau Rayas. A bottle of 1983 vintage is estimated at £400-500 [Lot 207]. and two bottles of the 1989 vintage are estimated at £700-900. [Lot 206]

The auction will be held on Thursday 20th February at Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions’ Donnington Priory saleroom in Berkshire. The auction is on view from Tuesday 18th February and the full catalogue is available online at www.dnfa.com