SOTHEBY’S WORLDWIDE WINE SALES TOTAL $49,287,329 (£24,469,681) IN 2007, A 32% INCREASE Sotheby’s International Wine Department concluded the year with a worldwide sales total of $49,287,329 (£24,269,682), well above the high estimate (est.$45/£22.3 million)
News-Antique.com - Dec 14,2007 - SOTHEBY’S WORLDWIDE WINE SALES TOTAL $49,287,329 (£24,469,681) IN 2007, A 32% INCREASE
TOP LOT OF THE YEAR IS THE MOST EXPENSIVE BOTTLE OF WINE EVER SOLD AT SOTHEBY’S
WORLDWIDE SOLD RATE OF 95.8% BY VALUE
Top Lot of the Year – A Jeroboam of Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1945, sold for $310,700
New York, New York, December 13, 2007 – Sotheby’s International Wine Department concluded the year with a worldwide sales total of $49,287,329 (£24,469,681), well above the high estimate (est. $45/£22.3 million*) and far exceeding last year’s total of $37,380,538 (£20,284,367), reflecting 32% growth worldwide in 2007. The worldwide sold rate was 95.8% by value---98.3% in New York, and 93.5% in London.
Sotheby’s held five highly-successful single-owner sales worldwide in 2007, including a historic and very special auction of wines, Treasures from the Private Cellar of Baroness Philippine, which brought $2,223,417 (est. $546/848,000), shattering individual estimates and setting numerous records throughout the evening. The prestigious single-owner evening sale featured 206 lots of wines from Château Mouton Rothschild as well as a small quantity of wines from other top Bordeaux châteaux also lying in the Baroness’ private cellar.
The sale, which was held in conjunction with the extraordinary exhibition of original paintings commissioned to illustrate the labels of vintages from Mouton Rothschild, was 100% sold by lot and value, with 99% of the lots selling above their high estimates. Other single-owner sales in 2007 included Magnificent Wines from the Warren A. Stephens Collection, which achieved $3,833,171 on November 17th in New York (est. $2.4/3.6 million) and The Cellar of Thomas O. Ryder, which brought $1,706,698 on September 7th in New York (est. $1/1.5 million). In London, single-owner sales included The Adrian Bowden Cellar Part II on March 29th and The Great Bordeaux Cellar on September 26th. Additional noteworthy cellars included Wines from the Collection of Dr. N.K. Yong in London on April 11, that was 98.5% sold by value, Bordeaux to Benefit the Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco in London on June 13th, and The Cellar of Carl and Regina Sadler in New York on December 30th.
Another cornerstone of the year was the inaugural sale of An Evening of Exceptional Wines in New York on October 29th, which achieved $3,817,428, well exceeding its high estimate (est. $2.3/3.6 million). The sale, which featured 145 lots included a number of “super lots,” 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 top lot of the year, which was also the most expensive bottle of wine ever sold at Sotheby’s, was a jeroboam of 1945 Château Mouton Rothschild (pictured on page 1) which sold for $310,700 in New York’s sale of Treasures from the Private Cellar of Baroness Philippine.
The top case of the year was for a case of 1990 Romanée-Conti (pictured on page 3), which sold for $262,900 in New York’s sale of An Evening of Exceptional Wines. Both are record prices for the wine
