De Bekessy cellar makes £400k

The cellar of the notable Hungarian-American Antal de Bekessy made over £460,000 as part of a Sotheby’s sale that made £2.2 million in total.

Sold at Sotheby’s in London this week, the cellar, which was full of notable fine wines from France dating back to the 1940s, made £468,990 in total with the lots garnering “terrific interest” said Sotheby’s head of wine, Europe, Stephen Mould.

The sale as a whole made £2.1m, exceeding its pre-sale high estimate of £1.8m with 98% of the lots sold.

The leading lot of the sale was a Methuselah of 1988 La Tâche from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, which more than doubled it low estimate, going for £45,410.

DRC was heavily represented in the sale’s best-selling lots with mixed cases of 2009, 2008, 1998, 2000 and 2010 and eight bottles of 1988 Montrachet also attracting high bids.

Also in the top drawer of sales results were bottles of 1982 and 1989 Petrus and a full dozen case of 1961 Palmer.

Mould commented: “Yesterday’s sale was a stunning success, comfortably exceeding the high estimate. Collectors clamoured for a superb collection of Burgundy purchased directly from the domaines, particularly for assortment cases of Domaine de la Romanée Conti, where we saw a strong demand from Asian buyers. Burgundy from Armand Rousseau also soared over its estimates as private buyers sought to secure these coveted lots.

Prices remained high throughout the sale, underscoring the buoyancy of the global wine market. We now look forward to our sales in New York on 2 December and in London on 13 December.”