Top Italians fly at Sotheby’s New York

Gaja, Giacosa and Conterno all scored groundbreaking prices at the recent James Clark sale, reports  Jamie Ritchie, Sotheby’s Wine CEO & president, Americas & Asia.

Jamie Ritchie Sotheby’s Wine CEO Americas & Asia

Speaking to the drinks business, Ritchie said: “We very rarely get to see this quality of Italian or Rhône wines coming up for sale, and without doubt it’s the greatest collection we’ve ever offered.”

“The best market for Italian wines is New York, though we saw good international participation.” He described the market as “more sophisticated and slightly narrower” than other regions.

Clearly James Clark had a thing about Piemontese wines which made up 90% of the Italians in the sale according to Ritchie.

“There was some great Gaja, Giacosa and Giacomo Conterno and a little bit of Ornellaia, Masseto, Sassicaia and Solaia.” Meanwhile the absence of Bordeaux was not significant in his view.

“To be honest we see growing interest in other areas, but Bordeaux remains the backbone of the wine market purely because it has the volume of production and the price point,” he explained.

“There’s not enough volume traded in the secondary market that’s really going to make any impact on Bordeaux’s dominance.” If ‘other areas’ have stolen some of the limelight, Ritchie insists the market will be rebalanced once the top Châteaux’s ‘09s and ‘10s are in the market and when prices have risen.