Magnums of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC) from the 1970s were the stars of the show at Sotheby’s inaugural wine and spirits auction in Geneva.
DRC dominated the sales board, with eight of the ten highest-selling lots coming from the Côte de Nuits estate, the most famous in Burgundy and – arguably – on the planet.
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A trio of magnums of 1971 La Tâche topped the bill, selling for 125,000 Swiss francs (£110,000), more than double the lower end of the lot’s pre-sale estimate.
Six magnums of 1976 La Tâche fetched CHF37,500, midway through their estimate of CHF32,000-42,000.
Three individual magnums of 1971 La Tâche sold for CHF32,500, CHF27,500 and CHF18,750.
La Tâche’s was joined on the leaderboard by DRC-stablemate Richebourg, with a bottle from 1947 going under the hammer for CHF17,500, smashing through its upper estimate of CHF13,000.
The total sales price reached CHF573,500 (£504,000), with 91% of the lots selling.
Buyers from 14 countries took part in the auction, spread across Asia, Europe and North America.
Frédéric Guyot du Repaire, Sotheby’s deputy head of wine for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said: ‘Most of the wine lots, particularly the mature Bordeaux and rare Burgundy, fetched prices two to three times above their low estimates, underscoring the strong interest of international collectors for such rare wines.
‘This outcome highlights the scarcity and desirability of these collectible wines and legendary vintages.’
DRC’s
