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Sotheby’s specialises in offering the finest wine cellars in the world…
Sotheby’s specialises in offering the finest wine cellars in the world, such as The Classic Cellar from a Great American Collector ($2.2 million, New York, March 2009 and $6.4 million, Hong Kong, April 2009), A Superb Private Collection (London, September 2008, $2.9 million), Magnificent Bordeaux and Burgundy from an Important Private Cellar (New York, April 2008, $6.1 million), The Adrian Bowden Cellar Part II (London, March 2007, $2.8 million), and Château Mouton Rothschild, Treasures from the Private Cellar of Baroness Philippine (New York, February 2007, $2.2 million). We hold sales in London, New York and Hong Kong, featuring fine and rare wines for both current drinking and cellaring.
The wine market is truly global and our clients come from 40 different countries on all Continents. London is an international centre, as reflected in our recent list of buyers. For example, in our April auction, 6 out of the10 most expensive lots were bought by Asian clients, who represented 16% of auction sales in 2008. This is the highest proportion of clients by region outside of the UK.
Start Building your Cellar
Sotheby’s team of wine experts is available to help you buy and sell wine at auction. We are happy to provide tips on how to build a cellar from scratch or how to work with an existing cellar. We can also offer advice on which wines would be suitable for investment, for laying down or for current drinking. We take pride in selling only wines in the best condition and with verifiable provenance. With a sale every month in London, there is plenty of opportunity to buy wine on a grand or small scale (there is no minimum spend), and for every sale, the team is on hand to provide you with auction estimates, a full description of each lot, and to guide you through the bidding process. Although auctions are open to the public, many buyers prefer to leave “absentee bids” by completing a form with their maximum bid in advance of the sale.
Often, collectors discover that they can finance new purchases for their cellar by selling some wines from their collection. If you are interested in selling, simply send us a list of wines and we will provide a detailed valuation. As well as providing current auction estimates, we can advise on whether your wines should be sold now or kept for the future. Selling at auction is a means to maximise the value of your wines, given the notion of competitive bidding and the international range of Sotheby’s clientele. We aim to make selling as easy as possible, for example, by making all the arrangements to transport your wines to our temperature controlled warehouse near London, where we offer complimentary storage until their sale. We also sell wine lying under bond at Octavian and London City Bond. We are currently accepting wines for auction on 15 July.
Spring/Summer Auction Season
Sotheby’s next sale will be held in London on 20 May and features the most respected wine regions in the world. Bordeaux, which represents 75% of auction sales in value terms, offers the widest choice of Châteaux, ranging from First Growths, like Lafite and Haut Brion, to Crus Bourgeois such as Pauillac’s Pibran. The focus of this month’s auction is Burgundy, however, with top producers and vintages leading an impressive listing. Grands Crus and Premiers Crus from both the Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits complement generic Burgundy from well-reputed domains; Leflaive, Etienne Sauzet, Armand Rousseau and Fourrier being among the greats. Wines from the Rhône, Spain, Italy, Australia and California also make a splash in the catalogue.
On 17 June, we are honoured to offer a unique collection of wines from the cellars of St. Emilion’s greatest star, Château Cheval Blanc. The Château has never before released its oldest treasures, presenting an extraordinary opportunity to acquire, and enjoy, vintages back to 1900 all the way through to 1995 – nine decades of Cheval Blanc. Serena Sutcliffe MW tasted many of these ‘secret treasures’ with the Château manager, Pierre Lurton, and his technical team, and was entranced by their beauty and staying power. It was one of the most exciting tastings of her professional life. Certain vintages have already achieved world-wide fame, but then there are also wines from the years of two World Wars that are exceptional. The depth and quality of this sale is further enhanced by the choice of formats, from bottle to magnum, double magnum, Jeroboam and Imperial.
Sotheby’s Online
You can buy, browse or download Sotheby’s wine catalogues from www.sothebys.com/wine. You can also read reviews and tasting notes by Serena Sutcliffe M.W. and check the international sales calendar. Once you are registered online, you can sign-up for email updates to be notified when catalogues are available and sale results published.
Sotheby’s Wine Department, led by Serena Sutcliffe, M.W., has the most experienced and successful team in the wine auction business, selling wine in London since 1970 and in New York since 1994 with worldwide sales of over $44 million in 2008.
Sotheby's, Registered Office:
34-35 New Bond Street, London W1A 2AA
Registered in England, No. 874867
