Following their gargantuan East Meets West sale last month, fine and rare wine auctioneers Acker, Merrall & Condit have another lined up an even larger sale - their biggest ever. The October Internet Auction is jammed-packed with over 2,600 new lots and $1 million-worth of wine available.
In a continuation of the company's expansion into the Asian market, approximately one-third of the lots (one-half of the value) is located in Hong Kong (though of course lots can shipped from one country to another).
Acker, more than any other major wine auction house, often sells wine in smaller lots - or 'try 'em size lots' as they put it - rather than the typical 12 bottle cases. It's a convenient route to a high-end investment.
Of course, a smaller number of bottles doesn't have to mean less wine - one of the key lots is an Imperial bottle of Château Pétrus 1978 which is expected to sell for $6,000-8,000. For those not in the know, an Imperial bottle is eight times the size of a standard bottle, holding six litres.
Often, however, there are really unique opportunities to own crème de la crème wines for collectors for whom a full case of 12 would be too large an investment. For example, a representative of the great Domaine de la Romanée Conti in the auction is a single bottle of Richebourg - Vintage 1996 (located in Hong Kong) which is listed at $4500-6000.
At the same price is a magnum (double-sized bottle) of Château Pétrus 1988 whilst a standard bottle of Château Le Pin 2000 is listed at $5000-7000. All these are held in Hong Kong except the Imperial bottle, which is in New York.
One more representative of a great vineyard and a great year is Château Lafite Rothschild 1982. This is available in one and two bottle lots, with $3,000-4,000 and $6,000-8,000 estimates respectively. The auctioneer describes it as follows:
"The 1982 Lafite possesses a dark, dense ruby/purple color with only a subtle lightening at the rim. Spectacular aromatics offer jammy cherry and black fruits intertwined with lead pencil, mineral, and smoky wood scents.
"Powerful for a Lafite, this wine unfolds to reveal extraordinary richness, purity, and overall symmetry in addition to stunning flavor depth and persistence. The finish lasts for nearly a minute. The modern day equivalentof Lafite-Rothschild's immortal 1959 An amazing achievement! ...(100pts)"
The show-stealer however is a bottle of the rare Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon 1992. The listing mentions its
"...sensational nose of jammy blackcurrants and subtle toasty oak. As stunning as the aromatics are, the wine reveals even greater richness and intensity on the palate, offering up layers of stunningly proportioned, ripe, intense fruit, full body, great purity, and an inner-core of sweet, creamy, highly extracted blackcurrant/cassis fruit."
That one bottle is expected to sell for $6,000-8,000. Bidding closes in Acker's online auction on Sunday October 10, at 8pm ET - or Monday, October 11 at 8am in Hong Kong.
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