Louis XIII sells for £188k at Sotheby’s

Sotheby’s has sold a magnum decanter of Louis XIII Cognac for £188,000 in London in the course of a wine sale that realised £2.7 million.

Held on 16 November, the wine sale more than exceeded its low estimate of £1.7m, eventually making £2.6m with the white wines from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti leading the best-selling lots.

Ten bottles of 1986 DRC Montrachet was the top lot, making £54,050 and another 12 bottles of Domaine Ramonet’s 1992 Montrachet realised the same.

Other top lots included magnums of 1982 Pétrus and Lafite, a Jeroboam of 1961 Latour, 1982 Lafleur, 2009 Le Pin and magnums of 1961 Haut-Brion.

Stephen Mould, head of Sotheby’s Wine, Europe, commented: “The fantastic sale result for ‘The Treasured Collection of a Connoisseur’ is testimony to both the outstanding quality of the owner’s wine and a reflection of his exquisite taste. The depth and breadth of the collection were breathtaking, resulting in 78% of lots selling above the high estimate.

“Buyers came from 21 different countries and they competed energetically for the most coveted lots, with a high proportion selling to telephone bidders and 35% to online bidders. It is difficult to single out highlights, as there were so many, but special mention should be made of the two lots of Montrachet, which were the highest sold lots in the sale. All the large formats were snapped up including no less than 35 6-litre imperials of Bordeaux from the outstanding 1982 vintage, the highest price going to Château Lafleur 1982 at £25,850. We now look forward to our next single owner sale in London on 30 November, ‘A Private Continental Collection.’”

The auction also saw the final appearance of the special edition ‘L’Odysée d’un Roi’ Louis XIII, following sales of the decanter in New York and Hong Kong.

This final decanter was sold for £188,000, well above the starting bid of £70,000. All three decanters have made US$558,000 combined with the proceeds from the sales going to The Film Foundation, a non-profit organisation founded by Martin Scorcese and other leading filmmakers with the aim of preserving and restoring classic films.

Jamie Ritchie, worldwide head of wine for Sotheby’s, said: “The final result is testament to the passion and appreciation for Louis XIII from collectors all over the world, not only for the sublime drinking experience this Cognac affords, but also for the highly-skilled artisanal work that goes into making Louis XIII. Even more special is that funds are going to The Film Foundation’s cinematic heritage preservation efforts.”