Eight auction records were broken and nearly US$8m was spent on Saturday as bidding went through the roof at Sotheby’s New York sale.

The highlight of the US$7.8m (£4.2m) sale saw a double magnum of 1865 Château Lafite go for $111,625 (£59,485) – nearly triple its original estimate of $40,000.

According to Sotheby’s, eight of the ten priciest lots broke auction records on 20 May. The sale was the second-largest in the history of the auction house.

The 8,500-bottle collection belonged to businessman and collector, Russell H Frye. Sotheby’s had valued the 1,219-lot cellar at $3.5m to $5.1m (£1.9 to £2.7m).

The sale beat the $6.1m (£3.2m) generated in 1997 by the sale of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s collection, but trailed the $14.4m (£7.7m) raised in the 1999 millennium sale held jointly with Sherry-Lehmann.

More than 76% of the lots were sold over their high estimates, and 99% of the catalogue was sold.

Further highlights from the sale included a case of 1989 Romanée-Conti, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti going for $111,625 (£59,348) and two magnums of 1947 Cheval-Blanc making $105,750 (£56,213). Both lots had an original estimate of $50,000 (£26,578).

As for American wines, Sotheby’s said records were also set by a case of 1974 Heitz Cellars Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon which went for $19,975, (£10,616) and two six-bottle lots of 1994 Maya Dalle Valle each generating $4,406 (£2,342). All three lots more than doubled their estimates.

Written by Howard G Goldberg in New York

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Howard G Goldberg
Howard G Goldberg
Decanter Magazine, Food & Wine Writer

Howard G Goldberg is a wine writer and critic based in New York City. He made his name writing about wine for The New York Times, where he worked for 34 years. He has written various books on food and wine, including Prime: The Complete Prime Rib Book and All About Wine Cellars. He compiled The New York Times Book of Wine – a collection of the publication’s best wine articles.