Billed as ‘The Final Champagnes’ public sale, the Sotheby’s occasion in Paris on 20 June featured uncommon wines and vintages of well-known labels, reminiscent of Krug, Dom Pérignon, Salon and Louis Roederer (Cristal), amongst others.
Whole public sale gross sales reached €1.35m (US$1.45m), mentioned Sotheby’s, including that greater than 50% of heaps offered above their pre-sale excessive estimates. Remaining costs embrace the client’s premium, however Sotheby’s famous that many heaps exceeded their pre-sale excessive estimates by ‘a large margin’.
It’s considered the primary Champagne-only public sale, in accordance with Sotheby’s, and is a part of ‘The Epicurean’s Atlas’ sequence of gross sales – representing 25,000 bottles of wine from the cellar of collector Pierre Chen.
George Lacey, head of Sotheby’s Wine, Asia, mentioned, ‘The outcomes we noticed at the moment, with greater than half of the heaps offered attaining costs above their excessive estimates and significantly sturdy bidding from purchasers in Southeast Asia and Continental Europe, are testomony to the extraordinary high quality and depth of Pierre Chen’s cellar, and the rising appreciation for this class amongst collectors worldwide.’
Prime 10 heaps within the Sotheby’s ‘Final Champagnes’ public sale:
- Salon Le Mesnil, Blanc de Blancs 1990 | 3 Magnums | Offered for €25,000 ($26,850) | Estimate: €9,500-13,000 (Lot 17)
- Dom Pérignon, P3 1966 | 1 Magnum | Offered for €23,750 | Estimate: €7,500-9,500 (Lot 157)
- Salon Le Mesnil, Blanc de Blancs 1988 | 3 Magnums | Offered for €22,500 | Estimate: €10,000-13,000 (Lot 19)
- Krug Assortment 1985 | 6 Magnums | Offered for €21,250 | Estimate: €11,000-14,000) (Lot 82)
- Salon Le Mesnil, Blanc de Blancs 1983 | 3 Magnums | Offered for €21,250 | Estimate: €9,000-12,000 (Lot 21)
- Dom Pérignon, P3 1982 | 6 bottles | Offered for €20,000 | Estimate: €15,000-20,000 (Lot 152)
- Dom Pérignon Rosé, P3 1988 | 3 Magnums | Offered for €18,750 | Estimate: €14,000-18,000 (Lot 203)
- Salon Le Mesnil, Blanc de Blancs 1996 | 12 bottles | Offered for €17,500 | Estimate: €12,000-15,000 (Lot 15)
- Dom Pérignon Rosé, P3 1988 | 3 Magnums | Offered for €17,500 | Estimate: €14,000-18,000 (Lot 202)
- Krug, Clos d’Ambonnay 1996 | 6 bottles | Offered for €16,250 | Estimate: €13,000-18,000 (Lot 27)
Supply: Sotheby’s. ‘Offered for’ costs embrace purchaser’s premium.
Different heaps included a single magnum of Cristal 1961, one of many oldest wines within the sale, which offered for €2,250 (excessive estimate: €1,800).
Twelve bottles of Taittinger’s Comtes de Champagne, Blanc de Blancs from the extremely regarded 1996 classic offered for €6,875 (excessive e: €4,500).
Subsequent up, Sotheby’s will host an public sale of Pierre Chen’s Burgundy wines in Beaune on 2 July.
A Champagne market reworked
Advantageous wine costs have dipped to numerous levels previously 12 to 18 months, in accordance with a number of indicators.
Liv-ex, a world market for the commerce that tracks costs of collectible wines, mentioned its Champagne 50 index fell by almost 14% in worth within the 12 months to 31 Could 2024.
It was, nonetheless, nonetheless up by virtually 47% over 5 years, highlighting how Champagne has additionally turn out to be extra distinguished in the marketplace.
Sotheby’s mentioned, ‘From 2022 to 2023, we noticed a three-fold enhance within the worth and quantity of Champagne offered in our auctions, with Champagne gross sales rising from US$1.9m to US$5.3m in a single 12 months, and a Champagne producer showing within the prime 10 producers offered at public sale by worth for the primary time (Krug, in sixth place with US$2m of gross sales).’
There have been widespread stories of quieter buying and selling throughout the secondary marketplace for high-quality wine, however Sotheby’s additionally reported report wine and spirits public sale gross sales of $159m in 2023.
Château Ducru-Beaucaillou public sale
Individually, public sale home Baghera/wines hosted a sale from the cellars of Château Ducru-Beaucaillou in Bordeaux on Sunday 23 June.
Whole gross sales reached €1.85m as consumers took benefit of a possibility to amass uncommon vintages direct from the St-Julien-based second progress. General, 476 heaps offered, out of 603 heaps on sale, mentioned the public sale home.
A single magnum of Ducru-Beaucaillou 1945 offered for €21,960, versus a pre-sale excessive estimate of €8,000, mentioned the public sale home.
The costliest lot offered was a 225-litre barrel of Ducru-Beaucaillou 2022, which fetched €54,900 (estimate: €45,000 to €90,000).
Virginie Maison, auctioneer for Baghera/ wines France, and Julie Carpentier, co-founder of Baghera/ wines, mentioned: ‘Following the “Pricey Pebbles” sale on 23 June 2024, held within the cellars of Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, we wish to categorical our deep gratitude to [estate owner / resident] Bruno-Eugène Borie for his unfailing belief. The public sale highlighted the distinctive vintages of Ducru-Beaucaillou, celebrating 300 years of this prestigious property.’
