Spirits & Fine Wine Auction in London

The Fine Wine, Champagne, Port & Select Fine Spirits sale achieved a palatable total of £157,862 on Thursday 16th November, with 93% of the lots selling to competitive bidders on the internet, telephone and in the room. The sale in London’s Mayfair was hosted by auction duo Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions and Bid for Wine, who have been building a strong presence in the wine and spirits market, through the pioneering auction platform www.bidforwine.co.uk and with traditional live auctions at Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions’ Maddox Street and Donnington Priory salerooms.

Chris Hambleton, Head of the Wine Department at Dreweatts and Consignment Director of Bidforwine said; “Yesterday’s sale was a great result for both buyers and sellers and we are very pleased to have built on our successful London sales earlier in the year. The wine team have all worked hard towards our goal of delivering excellent wines with great provenance to a demanding market and they can all be proud of what we have achieved this year.”

Several vintages of Chateau d’Yquem achieved the top prices on the day, with five bottles of the 1959 Sauternes, in stunning condition, selling for £4,680 [Lot 222] and seven bottles of the 1955 vintage achieving £3,042 [Lot 221].

Red Bordeaux received strong bidding, with all Clarets selling extremely well. A single owner cellar spanning 56 lots opened the section, including 12 bottles of Chateau Leoville Lascases Saint Julien 2000, selling for £2,106 [Lot 91] and 12 bottles of Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou Saint Julien 2000, achieving £1,287 [Lot 89].

Wines from elsewhere around the world also achieved good prices. Italian lots sold particularly well with 12 bottles of Sassicaia 1995 selling for £1,404 [Lot 234]. Penfolds wines from Australia also proved extremely popular with fierce bidding pushing prices over estimate. Of particular note was 6 bottles of Penfold’s Grange 2002 that sold for £1,170 [Lot 245].

Several very rare bottles of Remy Martin Louis XIII also sold well in the opening section of fine spirits that spanned Cognac Armagnac and Whisky. A 1950s bottling of Remy Martin Grande Champagne Tres Vielle Age Iconnu achieved £1,989 [Lot 14].

An early 1960s Cadenheads bottling of Talisker Black Label also proved popular in the fine spirits section, selling for £1,053 [Lot 32].

The sale of Fine Wine, Champagne, Port & Selected Fine Spirits was held on Thursday 16th October 2014 at Dreweatts’ London saleroom in association with Bid for Wine. The catalogue and auction results are available to view online at www.dreweatts.com and live.bidforwine.com.