Petrus leads London sale

Pomerol estate Petrus dominated Sotheby’s London sale earlier this week, taking seven of the top 10 lots.

The sale made £625,182 in total and was 87.4% sold by value and 71.5% by lot with 168 lots left unsold.

The top lot went to eight bottles of 1989 Pétrus which made £18,800, bang in the middle of its estimates – as were most of the top lots.

Three bottles of 2000 Pétrus bucked this trend selling for £10,810 against a high estimate of £8,500 and another six bottles of the 1995 went for £9,165 when £7,500 was all that was expected of them.

Other vintages of Pétrus in the top 10 were the 1990, 1988, 1998 and 1994.

Also showing in the top 10 were 11 bottles of 1993 Le Pin which realised £9,988, a full 12-pack of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 1990 Echézeaux which made the same and a mixed six-bottle case of 1998 Romanée-St-Vivant and Richebourg from Domaine Leroy.

Stephen Mould, European head of Sotheby’s Wine Department, noted that there had also been strong results for wines from the Rhône, Italy and white Burgundy too.

“There were strong prices for Bordeaux, especially for great vintages, such as the 2000, where Pétrus soared over the high estimate,” he said.

“Other vintages from this jewel from Pomerol were also in strong demand, with fierce competition for these lots. Grand cru white Burgundy was popular, with three bottles of Ramonet’s Montrachet 1992 hitting the heights at £6,462 against a high estimate of £3,600.

“From the same cellar, Guigal’s Côte Rôtie, La Mouline 1988 sold over the high estimate, crowning a great selection of Rhône wines. From another cellar, Domaine Leroy was much sought after; a mixed lot comprising six bottles of Romanée St. Vivant 1998 and six bottles of Richebourg 1998 went over the high estimate.

“Top Italian wines were selling well, with a case of Brunello di Montalcino Riserva, Casse Basse 1990 Soldera more than doubling the low estimate of £3,000, selling for £7,285 to an online bidder. This was part of a collection shipped direct from Italy, which included a six-bottle lot of Soldera’s Brunello di Montalcino Riserva, Intistieti 1995, which more than doubled its top estimate of £1,500, selling at £4,230. Buyers from Europe and Asia vied with buyers from the USA, along with a greater number of online bidders compared to recent sales. We look forward to our next London auction on 16 September, a Single Owner collection entitled ‘A Great Bordeaux Cellar’.”