Zachys said the auction of wines from the legendary cellars of Enoteca Pinchiorri, a three-star Michelin restaurant in Florence, fetched £3.15m.
All 864 lots were sold in the auction, which marked Zachys’ debut on the European scene.
It was originally due to take place in London, but the sale was live-streamed from New York due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Some bidders congregated at pre-organised events at London’s Cabotte restaurant, as well as in Stockholm, Beijing and Geneva.
‘We’re delighted with the results of our European debut.’ said Christy Erickson, head of Zachys’ Europe division. ‘We’re thrilled to have set 226 world records and achieve over double our pre-auction estimate for this collection.’
Top sellers and historic vintages, from Mouton 1945 to 1920s Petrus
Highlights included bottles from the acclaimed 1945 vintage in Bordeaux, as well as those from earlier in the 20th century.
One bottle of Château Mouton Rothschild 1945 sold for £9,920 versus a pre-sale high estimate of £8,000.
For context, five bottles of the first growth’s lauded 1982 vintage fetched £4,216 (high estimate: £4,000).
A single bottle of Petrus 1945 sold for £9,300 (high estimate: £6,500), while a bottle of the fabled Pomerol estate’s 1926 vintage sold for £5,456 (high estimate: £4,000).
Fast-forwarding to more recent vintages, a six-litre ‘imperial’ bottle of Petrus 2009 also sold for £42,160 (high estimate: £24,000), making it one of the most expensive lots in the auction.
Among other older wines, a bottle of Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 1918 fetched £1,488 (high estimate: £950), while a bottle of Château d’Yquem 1928 sold for £3,720 (high estimate: £2,800).
Burgundy dominated the upper echelons of the auction prices, as has so often been the case in recent years.
Three bottles of Henri Jayer Cros Parantoux 1985 fetched £74,400, nearly doubling the pre-sale high estimate of £40,000, for example.
Bidders in the auction came from 20 countries, including UK, US, UAE, China, Hong Kong, Israel, Monaco, Switzerland, Sweden and Monaco, according to Charles Antin, head of auction sales at Zachys and who presided over the sale alongside Zachys president Jeff Zacharia.
The auction house was upbeat on the market in 2020, despite restrictions on live sales and the overall economic impact of Covid-19.
Erickson said, ‘We were coming into the auction against a backdrop of global uncertainty due to the ongoing pandemic, but since wine auction sales in 2020 thus far have exceeded our January projections, we decided to forge ahead.
‘And we’re glad we did: this auction shows that the fine-wine auction industry is still booming, and our buyers’ appetite for quality shows no sign of slowing.’
