Interest in Burgundy and beyond continues to rise in the fine wine auction market.
The latest sale at Sotheby’s London (22 February) suggests Asian collectors’ appetite for Domaine de la Romanee Conti and top Burgundies is insatiable. A single bottle of DRC’s Romanée Conti 1962 sold for £9,400, more than double the high estimate, while esteemed producers including Rousseau attracted high bids.
The northern Rhone also had an encouraging day: six bottles of Guigal’s Côte Rôtie, La Mouline 2000 sold for £1,586 – nearly double the high estimate – suggesting further diversification in the fine wine market.
Stephen Mould, head of Sotheby’s European wine department, said: ‘This demonstrates the broadening interest in different wine regions of Asian collectors.’
The Asian market also appears to be embracing older vintages of Bordeaux, on the basis of this auction. Mature cases of Le Pin, Petrus and Lafite-Rothschild were snapped up by Asian buyers at prices far exceeding Sotheby’s high estimate.
‘We were delighted with the sale results, with strong bidding on mature vintages of Bordeaux and wines from Domaine de la Romanée Conti due to a resurgence of Asian buyers,’ said Mould. ‘Asian buyers accounted for 44% of the sale by lot, including the top 10 lots.’
While almost 60% of the lots sold achieved prices above the high estimate, the clearance rate was down on its January sale, with 77 of the 600 lots unsold.
Written by Decanter.com
