Brisk bidding & almost a 90% clearance rate
A bottle of 1832 Vintage Madeira, produced by Oscar Acciaioly attracted worldwide interest at Brightwells’ most recent wine auction which took place on 28th February.
UK collectors did battle with bidders from the USA, Europe and the Far East and the hammer finally fell at £1750, over twice the original estimate. Brightwells’ head of Wine Sales, Paddy Shave, said the chance of owning such a rare bottle had captured collectors’ imaginations. “At over 180 years old, this is one of the oldest and rarest wines we have offered at auction”.
The Madeira was part of a large collection of Wine, Port and Champagne that had lain undisturbed for decades in the cellars of a Staffordshire country house.
A full sale room ensured competitive bidding with many more joining in by telephone, commission and on the internet. In all over 500 lots were offered, bidding was brisk resulting in a clearance rate of nearly 90%.
There were several highlights from the French Wine section, most notably 5 bottles of Vosne Romanee 1er Cru Les Brulees 2002, Domaine Rene Engel which sold at £1850. The top price for Bordeaux wine on the day fell to two cases of Chateau Leoville Las Cases 1996 which sold in bond at £1900 apiece.
The Vintage Port and Champagne sections saw some excellent results including a single bottle of Krug 1953 which achieved £1650 and six bottles of Fonseca 1955 which saw the hammer fall at £1150.
Two major private collections of Malt Whisky formed the centrepiece of the Spirits section. They included a rare bottling of Talisker Malt Whisky from 1964 which sold at £1200 and a limited edition Lagavulin 1979 which achieved £540.
Brightwells are now inviting entries for their next wine auction which will take place on 2nd May. For information about buying and selling wine at auction please contact Paddy Shave on 07974 929487 or paddy.shave@brightwells.com