Aulden Cellars-Sotheby's - An Evening of Exceptional Wines - October 29, 2007 Tonight Aulden Cellars-Sotheby’s inaugural sale, An Evening of Exceptional Wines, which featured 145 lots of large-format bottles as well as a number of “super lots”, brought $3,817,428.
News-Antique.com - Oct 30,2007 - INAUGURAL SALE OF AN EVENING OF EXCEPTIONAL WINES AT SOTHEBY’S NEW YORK TOTALS $3,817,428, WELL EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS
CASE OF 1990 ROMANÉE-CONTI COMMANDS $262,900
New York, New York, October 29, 2007 – Tonight Aulden Cellars-Sotheby’s inaugural sale, An Evening of Exceptional Wines, which featured 145 lots of large-format bottles as well as a number of “super lots”, brought $3,817,428, well exceeding its high estimate (est. $2.3/3.6 million*) before a very full salesroom. The sale followed the format of evening sales of fine art, offering only the highest value lots, with an average lot value of almost $27,000. The evening was highlighted by cases of 1990 and 1989 Romanée-Conti, which sold for $262,900 (lot 22, est. $120/200,000) and $143,400 (lot 8, est. $100/150,000), respectively, selling to an Asian Private collector. The Cellar of Ambassador Ronald Weiser (lots 33-57) achieved $520,425 (est. $348,500/523,000).
Jamie Ritchie, Head of Sotheby’s Wine department in North America, said: “We were delighted that our inaugural sale of An Evening of Exceptional Wines was such a great success. Having sourced wines from America’s greatest cellars, we had collectors from all over the world competing with a very full salesroom to buy these great and rare wines, resulting in a sold rate of over 98% and with over 50% of the lots selling for over their high estimates. The depth of international bidding shows the global nature of the market and that worldwide demand is still increasing, with buyers from North America being joined by wine collectors from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, India, Italy, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Brazil and Venezuela.” Sale Highlights A Bordeaux “super lot”, which each included cases all of the First Growths (Lafite, Latour, Mouton Rothschild, Margaux, Haut Brion), as well as Cheval Blanc and Ausone from 2000 sold for $143,400 to an American Private collector (lot 16, est. $70/100,000). Another Superlot from 1928 sold for $32,862 (lot 41, est. $17/27,500). A 1982 First Growth Superlot, including six bottles of Lafite, Latour, Mouton Rothschild, Margaux and Haut-Brion achieved $53,775 (lot 123, est. $35/55,000). A 2000 Right Bank Horizontal Lot, including six bottles each of Ausone, Pétrus, Lafleur and Le Pin, sold for $95,600 to an Asian Private collector (lot 87, est. $50/70,000), and the evening was also dominated by prices for Pétrus, including one case from 2000, which sold for $71,700 to an Asian Private collector (lot 130, est. $30/50,000); two cases from 1989, which brought $65,725, selling to an American Private collector (lot 28, est. $30/50,000), and $50,787 (lot 29, est. $30/50,000), two cases from 1990, which achieved $65,725, selling to Asian and UK Private collectors, respectively (lots 31 and 32, est. $30/50,000 each) and one case from 1982, which realized $59,750, selling to an American Private collector (lot 82, est. $40/60,000), as well as an imperial from 1982, which commanded $47,800 (lot 127, est. $35/50,000).
Representing both new and old wines from California was a unique vertical of five double magnums of Colgin Tychson Hill, 2000-2004, which brought $47,800, selling to a South American
