A unique collection of 150 years of Château d’Yquem vintages has been purchased for £775,000.
The seller, London-based Antique Wine Company, claims the as yet unidentified buyer outbid 26 other parties for the 135-bottle collection, and set a record price.
‘The buyer is an existing contact of Antique Wine Company,’ managing director Stephen Williams told decanter.com. ‘The wine will be shipped outside the UK, into continental Europe.’
The collection consists of every vintage since 1860. Williams confirmed that from 1966 to 1985 it was amassed by wine merchant Didier Segon, then expanded by a British collector, and finally rounded out by Williams.
For the purposes of the sale, the Chateau supplied nine empty bottles – representing the handful of vintages when the wine was not produced (1910, 1915, 1930, 1951, 1952, 1964, 1972, 1974 and 1992) – signed by Chateau d’Yquem’s president Pierre Lurton.
The bottles are housed in two cabinets – worth £50,000 – purpose built by furniture designer David Linley.
2006 has been a newsworthy year for Yquem in general.
In July, a near-complete collection of vintages from 1900-1995 was stolen from a Swedish hotel as part of a heist of over 600 bottles of first growth Bordeaux.
And more recently, London-based Bordeaux Wine Investments announced a joint-venture with the Chateau to release for the first time ever, a limited number of Nebuchadnezzars of the 2005 vintage.
Williams said the buyer of the Antique Wine Company collection will be revealed at the end of January.
Written by Maggie Rosen
