Interest in white Burgundy at Sotheby’s

White Burgundy dominated the top lots at Sotheby’s London sale last week, with buyers snapping up Montrachet and Corton Charlemagne.

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti again topped the bill but it was with its Montrachet, six bottles of the 1996 making £23,500 (the buyer was Asian) – a little shy of its £28,000 high estimate.

Third on the list was more DRC Montrachet, this time six bottles of the 1989 which just sneaked over its high estimate at £19,975.

Another six bottles of the 1997 turned up and went for £14,100 (high estimate £18,000) and then two 12 bottle cases of J-F Coche-Dury’s Corton Charlemagne, the 1998 making £11,515 (better than its top estimate) and the 1997 £9,635 (a little below).

The other big winner of the sale was Pétrus, eight bottles of the 1982 made £21,150, six bottles of 1982 £17,625 and six bottles of 2000 £15,863.

The sale made £969,387 in total and was 90% sold by lot.

Stephen Mould, head of Sotheby’s European Wine Department commented: “We are very pleased with the result of the sale featuring two great collections.  The Champagne and historic vintages of Château d’Yquem were highly sought-after by collectors.

“Online bidding was particularly intense, resulting in over 40% of lots selling online.  Asian interest was strong for mature Bordeaux and DRC, with over 30% of lots finding buyers in this region. Given this healthy start to the year, we now look forward to our next sale on 26 February in London.”