Sotheby’s kicks off London season

Sotheby’s will begin its autumn season in London later this month with the sale of a “Great Bordeaux Cellar”.

Featuring 445 lots spanning the region’s “superstars”, the collection is expected to realise £850,000 when it goes under the hammer on 16 September.

The main focus of the auction is on four of the first growths, their second wines, top “Super Seconds” and several Right Bank properties. Vintages encompass 1989 to 2007 and a number of large formats from magnum to imperials.

Serena Sutcliffe MW, honorary chairman, Sotheby’s Wine, said: “If there is a template for a classic wine sale, this is it. A sale for professionals and amateurs, investors and drinkers and everyone who lusts after the supreme examples of the world’s most illustrious wine area. Bordeaux retains this title, in some style, combining the magnificence and individuality of the properties, the excitement of vintage differences in a maritime climate and the extraordinary technical prowess of those who make and manage the wines.”

Highlights from the Left Bank include Haut-Brion’s “extraordinary” 1989 vintage, 1999 and 2000 Lafite and the 2003 in magnum and imperial and Mouton-Rothschild and Latour in various formats between 2000 and 2007. There are several imperials of 2005 Mouton available for £2,200-£2,800 each and 2002s(pictured) for £1,600-£2,200 apiece.

Away from the first growths, other Médoc properties on offer will include Palmer, Lynch Bages, Pichon Baron and La Mission Haut-Brion, again in a variety of formats and all post-2000 vintages.

Across to the Right Bank a case of the “outstanding” 2000 Petrus will be offered at £26,000-£34,000 alongside parcels of the 2001 and 2003 vintages.

There is a “dazzling” collection of Cheval Blanc and its second wine “Le Petit Cheval” with cases and magnums of the 2000 and 2001 vintages and magnums and imperials of Le Petit Cheval spanning the 2002 – 2007 vintages.