A number of leading auction houses run specialist Wine Auctions
Christies - click to visit
With an unrivalled network of international salerooms that span across two continents, 2007 has been Christie’s Wine Department’s best year ever, realizing a global total of $71,647,944 (₤36,003,991/€52,925,868) and placing Christie’s at the front of the international wine auction markets. The only auctioneer to offer sales on both coasts of the United States and in four European countries, Christie’s continues to provide collectors the widest and most regular international auction schedule.
With 29 auctions in Europe sale totals soared to $44,427,157 (₤22,325,204/€32,818,050), marking an impressive 45% increase from 2006. The top lot of the year was a 12-bottle case of 1961 Hermitage, La Chapelle that sold at London- King Street for ₤123,750, setting a new world auction record for a case of Rhône wine and for any wine case sold in Europe (September 2007).
In the US, Christie’s held 10 sales totaling $27,220,787 (₤13,678,787/€20,107,818), with Christie’s Beverly Hills saleroom in California accounting for 50% of annual sales. The top lot of the year was also sold in Beverly Hills -- 30 dozen bottle cases of 1986 Château Mouton-Rothschild that realized $288,000. Christie’s first auction of spirits in New York City since Prohibition totaled $304,800, including $54,000 for a bottle of The Macallan, 1926 (December 2007). |
Château Mouton-Rothschild
Vintage 1945, six magnums
Price realized: $345,000
September 2006, Los Angeles
World auction record for a case of wine |
Sothebys - click to visit
Sotheby's Wine Department, led by Serena Sutcliffe, M.W., has the most experienced and successful team in the wine auction business, selling wine in London since 1970 and in New York since 1994 with worldwide sales of over $130 million over the last 5 years.
Sotheby's specialises in offering the finest wine cellars in the world, such as The Adrian Bowden Cellar Part II (London, March 2007, $2.8 million), Chateau Mouton Rothschild, Treasures from the Private Cellar of Baroness Philippine (New York, February 2007, $2.2 million), Magnificent Wines from The Park B. Smith Collection (New York, November 2006, $5.3 million), A Magnificent Bordeaux Cellar in aid of the Charles-Albert Frere Foundation (London, June 2006, $3.3 million), The Magnificent Cellar of Russell H. Frye (New York, May 2006, $7.8 million) as well as other celebrated sales such as The Andrew Lloyd Webber Wine Collection (London, May 1997, $6.1 million) and The Millennium Wine Cellar (New York, November 1999, $14.4 million). We hold approximately 11 sales in London annually and 7 sales in New York, featuring fine and rare wines for both current drinking and investment. |
Chateau Cheval Blanc 1947
Estimate: £40,000—60,000
Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium: £71,300 GBPs july 2007, London |
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