Burgundy rules at Zachys sale

“Aggressive” bidding for top Burgundy pushed Zachys’ ‘La Paulée’ auction to a US$3.5 million total.

Although “just shy” of the pre-sale high estimate, Zachys remarked that the event – held at San Francisco’s RN74 restaurant – proved “demand for top Burgundy is stronger than ever”.

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti was a prominent part of the sale, 78 lots achieving over US$700,000 with a top lot being a full case of 1990 Richebourg which made US$34,300.

A “star” of the sale was a case of 12 sequentially numbered bottles of Henri Jayer’s 1999 Cros Parantoux Reserve which realised US$85,750.

Also much in demand was an ex-cellar offering from Domaine Fourrier featuring vintages from 1999-2014 and realised US$384,000, while there was “feverish” bidding for wines from the micro-négoce of JM Roulot, which included some of his rare Chevalier-Montrachet. One three-litre bottle of 2014 Chevalier-Montrachet made US$6,738 (against a high estimate of US$2,400).

Jeff Zacharia, president of Zachys, commented: “La Paulée is without a doubt the ‘wine event of the year’ and we’re delighted that the Zachys auction has become such an important part of the week. If there’s any question about the strength of Burgundy in our auctions, I think we can say that it has been silenced.

“From DRC to Roumier, Rousseau, Jayer, Roulot, Fourrier, and more, once again we’ve proven that Zachys is the place to buy and sell rare Burgundy. We look forward to our next auction, on 16 April in NYC.”