Christie's held another of their great sales of fine and rare wines in London yesterday, although by their standards it was relatively modest in size, based around a high quality private collection.

Chateau Lafite again made its presence felt with a six magnum lot of the 2000 vintage bringing £18,400 ($29,753). The vintage was described by critic Michael Broadbent as having "impressive depth and colour, velvety sheen" and, more esoterically, "long legs".

Chateau Petrus was the main winner of the sale however with an unusual nine-bottle lot of the 1989 vintage being the top sale at £19,550 ($31,612)

Even more impressive was a set of bottles for the 2000 vintage which achieved £17,250 ($27,893) for just six standard size bottles.

Robert Parker was unstinting in his praise:

"This is a remarkable wine that seems slightly more structured and massive than the 1998, which comes across as slightly more seamless, as if it were haute couture. This wine needs at least another 5-10 years of cellaring and should age for 50+ years."

Wine collectors and investors will now look forward to the sale later this month of Chris de Burgh's collection.