Cellar of the Wild Boar realises $1.66m at Christie's

Christie's Fine & Rare Wines, featuring the cellar of the Wild Boar, realised $1.66m

Christie's sale of fine and rare wines, which featured the cellar of the Wild Boar, realised in excess of $1.66m on Saturday (May 12) in New York. 

1999 vintage DRC assortment

The Wild Boar is an acclaimed restaurant in Tennessee, noted for its impeccable wine collection.

The restaurant had amassed an impressive collection of awards before closing in 2006, including the coveted Wine Spectator Grand Award, which it won 14 years in a row.

The highest bids in the sale were brought by a superb case of assorted wines from the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti estate. The ever-popular Burgundy estate is widely considered as the source of the world's greatest wines.  

Comprising 12 bottles of the 1999 vintage from six top vineyards, the lot sold for $37,500 against an estimate of $30,000-50,000.

Two bottles of the Richebourg vintage 1985 topped their high estimate of $24,000, despite the poor condition of the bottles. The lot achieved a final sale price of $24,200.

The Richebourg vinyard has a superb record of producing stunning wines, with the 1978 vintage Grand Cru cited by Henri Jayer as "undoubtedly, one of the best in the century". A single bottle of the 1978 wine sold for $10,890 in Saturday's sale.

This price was matched by a bottle of the illustrious Romanée-Conti 1991, which went to auction with an identical estimate of $8,000-12,000. Romanée-Conti continues to command huge bids from collectors at auction, with a jeroboam of the sought after 1999 vintage bringing $73,200 to a New York auction house in March this year.

2012 is looking like an excellent year for Burgundy wines at auction, with the Liv-ex Fine Wine Index reporting a 1.16% value increase in February, attributed to blue-chip wines from the region.

According to a Bloomberg report, Burgundy's success stems from the fact that collectors, particularly those in Hong Kong, are able to drink the wine while it is relatively young, as opposed to the previous favourite, Bordeaux, which must be allowed to mature.

Paul Fraser Collectibles continues to provide unique investment advice as well as the latest news from the world of wine collecting, so be sure to check back with us soon.

Recent and related articles

·  Chateau La Mission-Haut-Brion wine up 15% at Christie's | 11 May 2012

·  Whisky investment on the rise in New York | 5 May 2012

·  Romanée Conti celebrates continued auction success in Boston | 4 May 2012

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Images: Christie's