Sotheby’s Breathes Fire into the Wine Market with the Company’s First London Wine Sale in the Year of the Dragon

--Magnificent Private Collection of Mature Bordeaux Brings £1.6 million / $2.5 million--

Sotheby’s London Sale of Finest and Rarest Bordeaux – A Magnificent Private Collection on 25 January 2012 brought a total of £1,607,102 ($2,507,079), against an estimate of £1,456,260 - £1,888,760 ($2,271,766 – 2,946,466). With a sell-through rate by lot of 95.2%, the sale performed above the 2011 average of 91.6%. Only 32 out of 665 lots failed to find buyers with over half of the lots selling within the estimates and almost 40% surpassing the high estimate, emphasising the current demand for more mature Bordeaux. The sale was very well-attended with 27% of lots selling to buyers in the room. Absentee bidding and telephone bidding accounted for nearly 60% of lots sold while online bidders bought 13% of the sale. Asian buyers bought 29% of the sale by lot, while UK buyers represented 58%. Buyers from Europe, the Middle East and North America account for the remainder.

Commenting on the auction, Stephen Mould, Head of Sotheby’s European Wine Department, said: “We are delighted with the result after a correction in the market last autumn. Estimates were attractively priced and this drew in many buyers from Asia as well as plenty of UK and European buyers. There was active bidding in the room and on the telephones, with a host of absentee bids and online bidding. The quality of the stock was superb with the collection comprising Bordeaux vintages from 1953 to 1995. The Champagne was a sell-out, so we can now raise a glass to a successful start to the New Year. We look forward to our next sale in London on 22 February closely followed by our sale in New York on 25 February.”

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