Christie’s London sale achieves £2.12 million

Christie’s Finest and Rarest Wines & Spirits sale, which featured anniversary collections from California’s Ridge Vineyards and Champagne Philipponnat as well as 6 bottles of Petrus 2000, has raised more than £2.12 million ($2.56) at auction.

The star lot – comprising six bottles of Petrus 2000 – realised a cool £30,000 ($36,210 or €34,650), the same price as 12 bottles of Le Pin 2018, while six magnums of Georges Roumier, Bonnes Mares 2005 sold for £25,000 ($30,175 or  €28,875).

The sale also featured some star lots from the cellars of King’s College, Cambridge, including six bottles of Château Lafite-Rothschild 1959 which achieved £20,000 ($24,140 or €23,100), six bottles of Croft 1945 (£6,875) and 12 bottles of Taylor 1948 (£11,875).

The sale, which took place in London last week (1 and 2 December), celebrated the 60th anniversary of Ridge Vineyards, with a collection of bottles, magnums and large formats of flagship wines offered directly from the its cellars being sold for a total of £117,075 ($141,310 or €135,222). The wines spanned all six decades with the highlight being a mixed lot of nine Ridge Monte Bello Magnums 1990-1999, which realised £7,500 ($9,053 or €8,66).

The sale also celebrated the 500^th year anniversary of Aprvil le Philipponnat’s arrival in Champagne in 1522, with the presentation of 11 lots direct from the cellars of Champagne Philipponnat, including  three magnums of Clos des Goisses L.V. 1996 which realised £2,750  ($3,319 or €3,176). THe collection was 100% sold, achieving a total of £13,763 ($16,612 or €15,896).

The auction attracted buyers from 22 countries, across 5 continents, Christie’s said, with a strong presence of millennial collectors – they made up 46% of new registrants, the auction house said.