Swiss cellar brings in £1.9m

Sotheby’s first fine wine sale of the new year made nearly £2 million in London this week.

The sale featured the collection of a ‘Swiss collector’ and included large amounts of blue chip claret and Burgundy and 1,000 lots in total.

The best-selling lot was a six-bottle case of 2009 Richebourg from Domaine Leroy which went for £29,040.

Mouton Rothschild was heavily represented at the sale and bottles and magnums of the first growth’s 2000 vintage were heavily represented in the top selling lots.

Six magnums sold for £22,990, a 12 bottle case for £20,570 and an imperial bottle for £16,940.

Meanwhile, another 12 bottles of Leroy’s Vosne Romanée ‘Les Beaux Monts’ went for £20,570, while cases of the domaine’s Clos Vougeot and Nuits Saint Georges were also top lots alongside various examples of Armand Rousseau’s Chambertins.

Stephen Mould, head of Sotheby’s Wine, Europe, said: “Our first Single Owner sale of the year – A Superlative Swiss Cellar – offered close to 1,000 lots and opened the season on a high.  Prices for Mouton Rothschild 2000 were impressive, particularly for the magnums and imperial.

“Showstoppers from Domaines Leroy and Rousseau saw fearsome bidding, with Rousseau vintages spanning 1990 to 2012 drawing passionate collectors from across the globe.  From Bordeaux to Burgundy, Rhône and Italy, the sale marked a strong start to 2019 for Sotheby’s Wine in London.  We now look forward to our next sales in New York on 9th March and London on 20 March.”