1989 Petrus propels London sale to £1m

This week Sotheby’s first London fine wine auction of the new season exceeded its pre-sale high estimate to reach £1,019,383 million.

With a pre-sale estimate of £693,885 – £876,005, demand for Petrus, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and other claret drove the auction to just over £1m on Wednesday 14 September.

As Sotheby’s head of wine, Stephen Mould, commented: “We saw a very strong start to the season with keen interest from buyers around the world eager to snap up an array of wines from different regions. Two private collections led the sale, the first featuring top Bordeaux and Burgundy of excellent provenance from a country house cellar.

“Prices for mature Bordeaux, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and Domaine Leflaive soared over their estimates thanks to competition from bidders in the room, online and on the telephone. Elsewhere, red and white Rhône from Chave and Italian wines from Giacomo Conterno were also in demand.”

The top lot was a case of 1989 Petrus which realised £28,200 (it had a high estimate of £18,000). Two bottles of 2006 DRC Romanée-Conti went for £16,450 and a further nine bottles of 1966 DRC Echézeaux £11,515.

Another nine bottles of 1985 Leflaive Chevalier Montrachet made £10,575 and the rest of the best-selling lots were made up of cases of 1990 Lafleur and Cheval Blanc and 1996 Lafite.

Sotheby’s next fine wine sale will take place in Hong Kong from 1-2 October and the next London sale on 12 October.