Ex-cellar offerings drive NY sale

Sotheby’s New York sale at the weekend saw ex-cellar lots of Yquem, Dom Pérignon and Ornellaia sell out completely.

The sale was 99% sold by lot and realised US$1,463,201. The ex-cellar consignments accounted for around 200 of the 475 lots on offer and were 100% sold.

Cases of Pétrus 2000 and 1982 topped the biggest sales chart, the 12 bottles of 2000 comfortably sailing past the $35,000 high estimate, selling for $42,875 and six bottles of the 1982 doing similarly well, making $30,625 from a $20,000 high estimate.

However, it was a case of 2011 Yquem which truly exceeded its top estimate when the hammer came down at $24,500 – the high estimate was just $10,000.

Dom Pérignon Oenothéque performed well with three lots in the top 10. Four magnums of 1978 rosé realised $23,275 ($20,000), three magnums of 1966 reached $18,375 ($18,000), as did four magnums of the 1982 rosé ($15,000).

The highlight of the Ornellaia collection was a 12-litre Balthazar from the 2010 vintage – the first bottle in that format in the estate’s history – which made $11,638 ($6,000 high estimate).

In all, the Ornellaia collection made $55,250.

Lafite and Le Pin made up the rest of the top lots. It was also noticeable how many of the top lots were snapped up by Asian buyers (five in all, largely trade), as well as a European collector (the Yquem) and two lots by a Latin American collector (the 1982 Pétrus and Lafite).

Only two of the top 10 lots went to US buyers – the 1966 and 1978 Dom Pérignon – testament to the increasingly international audience auctions are attracting and the desire among collectors and the trade to find wines with impeccable provenance.

Jamie Ritchie, president of Sotheby’s Wine, Americas & Asia, said: “We are honoured that so many top wine producers have entrusted Sotheby’s to offer wines direct from their cellars at our auctions. In the past two years alone we have sold more than $16 million of wine in these ‘ex cellars’ sales, surpassing all of our competitors by a considerable margin.

“Today’s offerings of Ornellaia, Dom Pérignon, and Yquem were all 100% sold, again demonstrating the extraordinary appetite among collectors for wines with this perfect provenance.

“We were excited to work with Giovanni Geddes of Ornellaia, Richard Geoffroy of Dom Pérignon, and Pierre Lurton of Château d’Yquem and all their teams to bring these great wines to a global auction audience.”