Petrus leads the way at Bonhams sale

Bonhams’ first fine wine sale of the year realised a little over £500,000 when rare Bordeaux and Burgundy went under the hammer last week.

The London sale’s leading lot was nine bottles of 1982 Petrus which sold for £29,875, above its pre-sale low estimate but below the £35,000 high estimate, with up to and over £30,000 being eminently feasible for such a famous vintage from an extremely renowned domaine.

Three bottles of 1961 Petrus went for £17,925, followed by a magnum of 1993 Cros Parantoux from Henri Jayer which realised £14,340 and eight bottles of 1971 Petrus made £13,145.

More bottles of Jayer’s Cros Parantoux from the 1990s, 1989 and 2010 Haut-Brion, 1999 Lafite and 2005 Margaux were also among the sale’s top lots.

The sale results will rank as solid but not spectacular. The auction was 68% sold by lot and 73% by value, with a total of £560,575 achieved.