Burgundy dominates at $5.6m sale

Part two of auction house Wally’s Roy Welland Collection sale raised US$5.6 million, smashing its low estimate of $3.6m with sales driven by fine Burgundy.

Roy Welland, former owner of the New York restaurant Cru, announced his intention to sell his 100,000-strong wine collection in June citing “personal reasons”.

The first part of the Roy Welland Collection auction took place in New York on 12 and 13 September reaching sales of $6,598,788 million.

The second auction, which also marked Wally’s inaugural Los Angeles sale, was held on on November 21 and 22 at the SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills and saw more than 350 bidders clamour to buy some 1,633 lots of wine from some of the world’s most prestigious producers.

Domaine de la Romanee Conti and Domaine du Comte Liger Belair dominated the auction on Friday breaking a number of world records in the process, particularly among their 2002 and 2005 vintages.

Highlights included two bottles La Tache Domaine de la Romanee Conti 2002 which sold for US$7,200 and a magnum of Richebourg Domaine de la Romanee Conti 2002 which sold for $5,280, both setting world records.

Two magnums of La Romanee Domaine du Comte Liger Belair 2003 sold for $7,200, while 12 bottles La Romanee Domaine du Comte Liger Belair 2005 sold for $44,400 – the top-selling lot of the weekend.

Overall, 81 lots of Domaine de la Romanee Conti estimated at $403,600 to 605,200 sold for $675,600, and 46 lots of Domaine du Comte Liger Belair, estimated at $229,750 to 343,800, sold for $441,840.

On Saturday Domaine Armand Rousseau drove sales with its flagship wines Chambertin Clos de Beze, Chambertin and Gevrey Chambertin Clos St Jacques, achieving top results.

Highlights included eight bottles Chambertin Clos de Beze Domaine Armand Rousseau 1999 which sold for $16,800, and 12 bottles Chambertin Clos de Beze Domaine Armand Rousseau 2005 which sold for $26,400.

Vintages of Montrachet, produced by Domaine Ramonet, achieved two world records; three bottles Montrachet Domaine Ramonet 2000 which sold for $6,600 and six bottles of Montrachet Domaine Ramonet 2001, which sold for $9,600.

However perhaps the most surprising result of the weekend was that of Domaine Rene Engel, whose relatively small selection of 19 lots sold for $73,080, $33,000 above its high end estimate with most of its lots doubling or tripling pre-sale estimates.

Highlights included 12 bottles of Clos Vougeot Domaine Rene Engel 1999 which sold for $6,000, 12 bottles of Clos Vougeot Domaine Rene Engel 2002 which sold for $6,000  and 12 bottles Grands Echezeaux Domaine Rene Engel 2002 which sold for $6,000.

After two days, 97.7% of lots were sold achieving total sales of $5,568,048.

Michael Jessen, Wally’s Auctions president and chief executive officer said: “We could not be more thrilled with the successes of The Roy Welland Collection Parts I and II. The Wally’s auction team has endeavored from day one to be the auction house of choice for the most important collections in the world, and with The Roy Welland Collection we have made significant steps towards that goal.

“Combined auctions of over $12 million exceeds our highest aspirations for this collection, and we are overjoyed that it resonated with our clientele in such an incredible way. Our debut Los Angeles auction was a blast, and we are already planning the next one!”