All stages of vinous maturity were represented among our top lots in our January wine auction, with a pair of relative babes in arms, Petrus 2010 at £2400 and a six-pack of Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 at £975, both Wine Advocate 100-pointers, separated by a venerable case of twelve bottles of Carruades de Lafite 1952 at £1450. Shipped by Barton & Guestier negociants, the bottles are gloriously ancient in feel, but with virtually box-fresh labels taking the winning bidder back 70 years.
Lafite Rothschild 2015 was our highest ‘First Growth’ result at £750, which will surely prove a sensational glass of claret if opened at any stage of the next 30 plus years, but it was perhaps the other side of the Rothschild family which won most favour in our auction last night. Mouton Rothschild 1981 featuring a label by painter and sculptor Arman Fernandez (1928-2005) hit £420, closely followed by multiple other Mouton Rothschild vintages; a 1996, and a pair of lots from the 2003 and 2004 harvests each fetching £410, with their American cousin, Opus One 1995, from an appropriately drawn-out, Bordeaux-style growing season following hot on the heels with a pair of single bottle lots at £410 a piece.
Three bottles of François Bertheau 2011 Bonnes Mares, provided our top Burgundy lot, harvested from a miniscule 0.34 hectare parcel of vines located in the terres rouges section of the fabled Grand Cru vineyard. Not far behind were cases and half-case from Puligny Montrachet, including Pernot Belicard Puligny Montrachet 2018 which achieved £380, picked up, perhaps, by optimists hanging out for some spring sunshine.
Our top two Champagne lots were both classics cut from very different cloths: we kept it real with an extremely snazzy Armand de Brignac Ace of Spades Gift Set, which fetched a cool £850, while Krug 1985 sold for £460, representing the most traditional of Champagne houses from one of the great post-war vintages. Great too to see Jacques Selosse Initial Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs, an icon ‘grower Champagne’ hitting £230, giving an impressive line-up of single bottle Prestige Cuvée lots a run for their money.
See the full results here.
