Mouton vertical withdrawn from sale

The drinks business has learned that a vertical of Château Mouton-Rothschild being offered by Baghera Wines has been withdrawn from sale after the authenticity of many wines in the lot were brought into doubt.

In an email in reply to the drinks business, Baghera Wines’ managing director, Michael Ganne, said: “If there is any doubt for any wines in a sale we will withdraw the lot. So lot 37 from our ‘Wine o’clock 5 – Wine, What else ?’ will be withdrawn for further inspection.”

Geneva-based auction house, Baghera Wines, was to offer the vertical as part of its next sale tomorrow (8 November). The lot in question, Lot 37, includes 61 bottles spanning the vintages 1945 to 2005 (pictured above), which can all be viewed here.

A post on the Wine Berserkers forum yesterday, 6 November, raised a number of questions about a large number of the bottles in the vertical however.

Anti-fraud lawyer Don Cornwell added a post soon afterwards in which he stated that: “It would appear that with the possible exception of the 1962, 1969 and 1972, all of the bottles from 1945 through 1984 are clear counterfeits.”

He continued that ­– with the three exceptions mentioned above – all of the wines from 1945 to 1979 have “incorrect” non-château capsules from another Mouton-owned estate, La Bergerie in Saint-Estèphe, and all of the bottles from 1945 to 1984 (exceptions aside) lack the usual mention of a bottle number on their labels as well as the ‘R.C.’ (Reserve du Château) mark.

Cornwell also drew attention to the glass used for the bottles themselves. He wrote: “For example the 1945 Mouton is modern glass and the glass codes are obviously different. The 1945 Mouton, like many others from the 1940s, is a broad shouldered bottle with its shoulders slightly broader than the base, so that the bottle tapers gently downward. The Baghera bottle has straight sides, as do all of the others from the 1940s.”

The 1945 Mouton Rothschild offered by Baghera. Cornwell notes the capsule is wrong, the label is in one rather than two pieces, it lacks a bottle number, the shape of the bottle is wrong and it carries glass codes which would not have been applied in 1945.

The label for the ’45 being sold by Baghera also appears to be one-piece when the famous laureled ‘V” for Victory above the label should be separate.

Cornwell provided an example of a genuine bottle of 1945 sold by Sotheby’s in December 2014 as an example.

A genuine bottle of 1945 Mouton Rothschild sold by Sotheby’s in 2014. Note the bottle number, tapering of the bottle towards the base and lack of ornamentation on the glass.

Wine authentication expert Maureen Downey, has also told the drinks business that while the capsules showed signs of age and bin soiling, the labels show absolutely none.

This is not the first time wines sold through Baghera have had their authenticity and provenance questioned. Earlier this year at the house’s inaugural sale a large number of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti were thought to be highly suspect, with many believed to have come from a failed Luxembourg wine fund, Nobles Crus.

Several lots were subsequently removed from the sale and others were verified by DRC itself, with Baghera Wines defending the authenticity and provenance of those remaining.