Bonhams celebrates biggest ever sale

Fine and rare Burgundy and Madeira helped propel Bonhams to its most successful ever sale last week.

A case of 1988 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti led the sale with a hammer price of £117,500 and the auction realised £1.27 million overall against pre-sale estimates of just £100,000-£200,000 – the best result for a fine wine sale in Bonhams’s history.

The Madeira collection of Patrick Grubb MW had been due to headline the sale, which was then extended by one day to accommodate a rash of late consigments, particularly of Burgundy.

The head of Bonhams’ wine department, Richard Harvey MW, said: “Demand has been growing steadily throughout the first six months of the year and the trend continued in this latest sale. The high price for the Domaine Romanée Conti 1988 and the strong performance of Bordeaux show the market in good health for wines from the traditional French wine producing areas.”

Other highlights from the sale included 10 bottles of Armand Rousseau 2009 Chambertin which sold for £10,164 and two bottles of Henri Jayer’s 1985 Nuits-Meurgers for £7,050.

Cases of 2010 Latour and Cheval Blanc and 1996 Lafite were also top-sellers while bottles of old Madeira from Grubb’s collection, including a Ferraz Terrantez 1798 and Rumo da India 1810, consistently sold over their high estimates and the consignment made £111,601 in total.