November 2024 Fine & Rare Wine Auction Results

It was a stellar final wine auction of the year with some truly stunning wines from around the globe, and our most expensive single bottle wine lot to date. It was hard to pick our highlights from the November 2024 Fine & Rare Wine Auction results.

*Aftersales Update*

There were a bunch of fantastic bottles snapped up in the aftersales for this month’s auction with bidders taking a second chance to secure those bottles they had missed out on in the live sale. Of the stellar bottles heading to new homes, the standout was this 2003 Chateau Petrus from Pomerol’s most famous estate that sold for £1,800.

Bordeaux was the toast of the aftersales with bids also accepted on this double magnum of 1982 Chateau Beychevelle (£540), a pair of 1983 Chateau La Mission Haut Brion (£410), a 1983 Chateau Margaux (£350) and a 1967 Chateau Latour (£280).

Fans of fizz splashed out on some great bottles for the festive season such as these bottles of 1990 Krug (£390 each), and from the millennium vintage, this 2000 Louis Roederer Cristal fetched £180.

Burgundy

There was an abundance of Burgundy, both red and white, in this auction with over a hundred bottles to bid on. The top spot, taken by the aforementioned most expensive single wine bottle lot thus far for Whisky.Auction, unsurprisingly came from the most prestigious of Burgundy estates, Domaine De La Romanee Conti (DRC). From the superb 2005 vintage, and one of only 5849 bottles produced, this Romanee Conti Monopole sold for an auction topping £11,000.

Following on was another DRC, a bottle of 2000 Romanee St Vivant selling for £2,200. Other Grand Cru Burgundies on offer included a 2010 Clos De Beze from Prieure Roch that fetched £800 and a 1992 Clos De La Roche from Domaine Armand Rousseau sold for £550.

Among the white Burgundy, the top lot was a case of 2005 Batard Montrachet Grand Cru from Domaine Fontaine Gagnard, selling for £1,000. The top single bottle lot was a 2006 Meursault from Coche Dury (£600) closely followed by a 1995 Bienvenues Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru from Domaine Leflaive with a hammer price of £550.

Bordeaux

Leading the Bordeaux wines this auction was a 1999 Chateau Petrus that fetched £1,650 but there was an array of bottles from equally revered estates. This 1982 Chateau Lafite Rothschild, awarded 98/100 points by William Kelley of Wine Advocate in 2022, sold for £850.

In an advance on 98 points, there were a handful of 100 pointers for lucky bidders to add to their cellars. A 1990 Chateau Margaux sold for £600, while this 1986 Chateau Lafite Rothschild fetched £480.

Mouton Rothschild featured prominently in our Bordeaux section and there were multiple vintages spanning 1966 to 2020, featuring the eye catching artwork provided for the labels by various high profile artists across the decades. Not one but two 100 pointer 1986 Chateau Mouton Rothschild fetched £430-£450 a piece, while a trio of 2020 vintage sold for £300-£330 each.

Godfrey Spence Collection

Sadly, one of our Whisky Exchange colleagues and well-respected wine educator Godfrey Spence recently passed and we were able to auction some of Godfrey’s private collection this month so that these wines could be enjoyed by other enthusiasts.

Some highlights from the many bottles in the collection included a Robert Parker 100 pointer 1982 Chateau Gruaud Larose that sold for £220. Other bottles from the legendary ’82 vintage included Leoville Las Cases (£240-£290), Chateau Cos D’Estournel (£230) and Chateau Lynch Bages (£190).

Outside of Bordeaux, Portugal’s most famous unfortified red wine made a rare appearance with the 1995 Barca Velha from Casa Ferreirinha fetching £290.

On the subject of Portugal, Godfrey was known for his expertise on fortified wines, so it’s no surprise there were some excellent Vintage Ports among his collection including the 2011 Quinta Do Noval Nacional which achieved £700, the highest hammer price of all the Spence bottles. Nacional is produced from pre-phylloxera vines from a single vineyard and this particular vintage was awarded 100 points by Neal Martin of Wine Advocate, who called it it ‘the kind of elixir that leaves you speechless.’

Roundup

The longest bidding battles of the night appeared to be fought over a number of multiple bottle lots of Armand de Brignac Gold, which should add a bit of bling to the bars of the eventual winning bidders. A set of 11 bottles achieved £875 while the 10 bottle lot his £850.

Among other fizz, the highest prices for single lot Champagnes were all taken by bottles of Krug. Top price for a standard size bottle went to this 1985 Krug with a final bid of £525.

For those entertaining at Christmas, the chance to pick up some amazing wine in large format bottles was there to be taken. A 1990 Krug magnum sold for £900, while a 2006 magnum of Dom Perignon fetched £260. Magnums of still wines included a 1998 Puligny Montrachet (£525) and 2009 Bourgogne (£160-£180), both from Domaine Leflaive. To accompany the cheese board, a magnum of 1977 Graham’s Vintage Port sold for £220.

The oldest fortified wine in the auction was this 1913 Seppeltsfield Para Tawny from Australia, aged for 100 years. The 37.5cl bottle sold for £625. Continuing with the theme of old liquid, this Christopher’s Rare Old Verdelho Madeira, bottled in 1969 and said to be a blend of three 19th century vintages reached sold for £55. Other options for sweet toothed wine lovers included multiple vintages of the world’s finest dessert wine, Chateau D’Yquem, including a 1975 described by Robert Parker as ‘a wine of astonishing power and finesse that must be tasted to be believed’, sold for £280.

See the full November Fine & Rare Wines Auction Results here.

See our past auction roundups here.