1921 Sauternes steals show from shipwrecked Champagne

A bottle of 1907 Heidsieck Monopole salvaged from a shipwreck in the Baltic had some of its glory stolen by a Jeroboam of Sauternes at an auction last week.

The bottles were from the collection of Pierre Bergé, Yves Saint Laurent’s partner, which was sold in Paris on 10 March by Maison Drouot.

The venerable bottle of Champagne was salvaged from the wreck of the Swedish ship Jönköping in the late 1990s. The ship had been sunk by a German submarine off the Finnish coast in 1916.

Expected to realise €5,000 to €6,000, it eventually fetched €6,010. The true star of the auction though was a Jeroboam of 1921 Château Climens which went for €9,390, even though its high estimate was just €4,000.

There were good results for the consignment’s Burgundy selection too – naturally Domaine de la Romanée-Conti sold particularly well, various cases of 1990 Echézeaux and Grands Echézeaux, 1969 and 1996 La Tâche and 1989 Richebourg being snapped up by buyers.

Bordeaux, including a lot of historic vintages, was both well represented and sold. Five bottles of 1964 Cheval Blanc made €3,005, five bottles of 1928 Cos d’Estournel €2,754, 12 bottles of 1959 Haut-Brion €20,032, three magnums of 1954 Lafite €6,510, six bottles of 1947 La Mission Haut-Brion €8,263, another 12 bottles of the 1959 €24,114 and a magnum of 2000 Mouton Rothschild €3,130.

In total the sale made €624,346. For full results click here.