Christie’s to auction art and wine together

Christie’s is to auction old master paintings and fine wine at its first sale of the year in New York next week.

Described as a “fitting complement” to “The Art of France” sale during Old Masters Week, Christie’s has decided to sell selected cases of “benchmark” French estates in Bordeaux, Burgundy, the Rhône and Champagne.

In total, 158 lots of fine wine will be offered at the auction on 25 January at the Rockefeller Centre.

Bordeaux lots include cases of Pétrus 1970-2005, with the 1982 valued at US$42,000-US$65,000; 1982 Lafite (one case at US$35,000-US$45,000) and Latour (6 magnums for US$20,000-US$30,000) and Château d’Yquem from 1990-2002.

The Domaine de la Romanée-Conti selection ranges from 1990-2005, with an assortment of 1990 Romanée-Conti valued at US$32,000-US$40,000.

From the Rhône, wines include those from Guigal and more artisan Chave.

Robin Kelley O’Connor, head of wines for the Americas at Christie’s, commented: “We are honoured to co-host this salute to France with our Old Master Paintings team.

“In each of our respective categories, these French classics have been experiencing a surge of interest as they continue to delight both established and new generations of collectors from around the world. Among the great winemaking countries, none is so closely associated with the art of creating ‘bottled poetry’ as France.

“Coming off a record-setting year of wine sales at Christie’s, we are pleased to offer collectors from Asia, Europe and the Americas a chance to add these rare ‘Old Masters’ to their wine collections.”

Following on from the first sales of the year by Sotheby’s, Acker Merrall & Condit and Zachys, it will be interesting to see how the house fares especially in selling its Bordeaux lots, which have suffered a slight hiccup in fortunes of late.

For the art lovers, masterpieces featured in the auction centre around Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Louis-Lépold Boilly and François Boucher.