A huge collection of Australian wine - billed 'the largest ever presented in America' - comes under the hammer in Manhattan early next month.
The stellar attraction in the Morrell & Company auction on 3 May is a wealth of Penfolds Grange from 1961 through 1996. A 19-magnum superlot from 1979 (the first Grange magnum bottling) through 1981 is estimated at US$32,000 to US$40,000. One regular bottle of the great 1990 is estimated at US$480 to US$550; a bottle of the great 1986, at US$400 to US$480.
The sale’s core is 368 lots consigned by Heritage Fine Wines, a trader in Sydney and San Francisco specialising in Australian wines for private clients. Morrell assesses the package, from 22 producers, at more than US$300,000.
The main features, especially for collectors, include multiple vintages of Henschke Hill of Grace shirazes (with a few from the 1970s and 80s), verticals of Mount Mary cabernets and numerous Greenock Creek cabernet sauvignons and shirazes. One- and six-bottle lots abound.
Other featured producers include Barossa Valley Estate,
Burge Family Winemakers, Clarendon Hills, d’Arenberg, Dutschke, Fox Creek, Grant Burge, Jim Barry, Kay Bros Amery, Noon, Parker Coonawarra Estate, Rockford, Three Rivers, Torbreck, Trevor Jones, Veritas, Wendouree and Wild Duck (Duck Muck).
Real-time Internet bidding, a rarity in American wine auctions, is an option.
US$1.00=€0.91
Written by Howard G Goldberg in New York28 April 2003
