Bids rose above forecasts for the Château Lafite dinner package, which sold for £11,491 following a 10-day, Sotheby’s online auction that closed on 22 November.
Sotheby’s had set a pre-sale high estimate of £10,000 on the lot, which includes lunch or dinner for four at the Pauillac first growth estate with one of the management team, plus a private tour and tasting, as well as a double magnum of the 2002 vintage.
More than 40 lots consisting of wines and exclusive wine experiences, donated by some of the world’s most prestigious estates from Château d’Yquem and Haut-Brion to Penfolds and Harlan Estate, fetched around £300,000 in the auction, said Sotheby’s.
Proceeds will help to fund the 2020 cultural programme at Bordeaux’s wine ‘theme park’ and museum, the Cité du Vin – which co-organised the auction with Sotheby’s.
Top lot in the sale was a package including a private lunch for eight people at Le Pin in Pomerol, which sold for £60,496 versus a pre-sale high estimate of £55,000.
Estate owners Jacques Thienpont and Fiona Morrison MW will attend the lunch and will serve the highly rated 2009 and 2010 vintages. The lot also included a double magnum each of Le Pin 2009 and 2010.
Another hotly contested lot was a package including a private lunch for six people at Château Cheval Blanc, attended by either estate president Pierre Lurton or technical director Pierre Olivier-Couet.
That sold for £15,726, with the winning bidder also being assured of a six-litre ‘imperial’ of Cheval Blanc 2006 and a tour of the vineyards and winery. Sotheby’s had set the pre-sale high estimate at £15,000.
Jamie Ritchie, chairman of Sotheby’s wine department, said, ‘We are delighted to support the Cité du Vin for this very special sale, which saw bids coming in from all over the world from wine lovers eager to secure the opportunity to make the trip of their lifetimes.’
Sylvie Cazes, president of the Foundation for the Culture and Civilizations of Wine – Cité du Vin, said, ‘We are very pleased with the great success of this auction and we warmly thank all the wine estates and donors of these prestigious lots, as well as the Sotheby’s wine team which supported this auction and made it possible.
‘This great result will allow the Foundation to carry out new cultural projects in 2020, such as the programming of special exhibitions like Drinking with the Gods (April 2020).’
See the auction results here.
See also: Ten things to see and do at Cité du Vin in Bordeaux
