A small private Irish collection to be sold at Bonhams fine wine sale in London on November 28 comes with an interesting history. The 23 bottles, with a combined upper estimate of £40,000, are the remains of an entire drinks cellar purchased in a private sale in 1955 for £500 – equivalent in buying power to £12,500 today. From the 1945 vintage there are bottles of Château Lafite Rothschild, Latour, Margaux, Haut Brion and Cheval Blanc as well as a case of Château Latour 1948 (£6,000-8,000) and five bottles of Cheval Blanc 1948 (£4,000-5,000). Most of these wines are all that remain from a cellar purchased by the vendor’s father from his cousin, based on a valuation by Berry Bros. & Rudd, who had originally suppled many of them.
The auction will be led by wines from a Paris cellar, with an emphasis on Burgundies from top Domaines, Coche-Dury and Jacky Truchot.
UPDATE: Irish cellar sold for a total of £78,400 including buyer’s premium
