2000 bottles of Lafite on the wall

Sotheby’s will auction nearly 2,000 bottles of Château Lafite in Hong Kong next month as the autumn season begins with an array of exclusive sales.

The Lafite library, spanning the vintages 1869 to 2008, has been released directly from the estate so its provenance is unimpeachable.

In a press release the auction house said that while such a gesture is incredibly rare the estate, “wanted to take the opportunity to honour some of their biggest fans.”

The collection is bound to appeal to Asian buyers who have a very real enthusiasm for the estate and its wines.

The 1869 has a high estimate of US$8,000 but the great 1870, harvested when France lost its last emperor and the Prussians occupied Paris, has an even higher estimate of $20,000.

The five lots of 1982 are each expected to fetch $70,000. Also included in the collection are jeroboams of 1959, magnums of Carruades de Lafite from 1996 and 2000 and lots from the estate’s sister properties Château Duhart Milon, Château Rieussec in Sauternes and Château l’Evangile in Pomerol.

The Lafite collection is one of a number of “breathtaking sales” to go under the hammer at Sotheby’s this autumn both in Asia and London.

As previously reported in the drinks business, this month the auctioneer will mark the 40th anniversary of its Fine Wine department with a two-day auction in London, including the sale of a vertical of Château Mouton-Rothschild from 1945 to 2003.

On 2 October in Hong Kong the biggest collection of DRC ever sold by the auctioneers goes under the hammer as part of a collection, which is estimated to fetch anything between $1.1 million and $1.8m.

Then on 13 October the fourth part from the cellar of a “great American collector”, including bottles of Pétrus, Lafite, Latour and Margaux from 1959 to 2005 will be auctioned with the collection expected to raise an estimated $3.5m to $5m.

Stephen Mould, senior director of Sotheby’s Fine Wine department, told the drinks business: “It is a great privilege to be selling wines of such great provenance and the London auction on "Finest and Rarest Wines and Spirits, The Fortieth Anniversary Sale" on 22 and 23 September is great way to begin a series of breathtaking sales.

“To have collections of auctions with such an abundance of riches in the autumn is extremely rare.

“I expect that there will be very active bidding in the various auction locations, on the various telephones and also on live online bidding – the ability to bid from your computer during the auction, which collectively should lead to some exceptional results.”

The Lafite library will be auctioned on 29 October at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Rupert Millar, 09.09.10