Sotheby’s wine sales top $10m in NYC

Sotheby’s wine sales in New York have exceeded US$10 million in the first half of this year following a successful sale last weekend.

The auction house’s last New York sale on 13 June made over $2.2m, driven by Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and Pétrus, lots of which constituted the entire top 10 best sellers list for the sale.

The top lot was four bottles of 1985 DRC Romanée-Conti, which realised $58,188, exceeding its high estimate of $55,000. It was bought by an Asian private collector, as were three bottles of 1990 DRC Romanée-Conti which made $45,938.

All of the other top lots were bought by US clients, either trade or private collectors.

Connor Kriegel, head of wine auction sales at Sotheby’s New York commented: “Our June sale y saw a solid result of $2.3 million bringing New York wine auction sales to $10.2 million for the first half of 2015 – a substantial increase on the equivalent total last year in a sign of both a strong domestic and international market.

“The auction was driven by a series of strong prices for mature Bordeaux as well as attractively priced Burgundy in perfect condition. Château Pétrus performed particularly well, with a case of 1975 exceeding the high estimate to sell for $30,625, several further cases from that year achieving $27,563 each, and three bottles from 1961 beating the high estimate to reach $24,500.

“Older Burgundy was also highly sought after with a case of La Tâche 1964 doubling the estimate, selling for $55,125.

“The second half of 2015 is set to be equally exciting for Sotheby’s Wine New York with a series of three major single-owner auctions, in addition to the regular calendar of various owner sales.”