Christie’s fine wine sale, held in Geneva last weekend, made US$4.2m and was 95% sold by lot, making it the highest-achieving fine wine sale in the Swiss capital since 2015.
The success of the sale was in part driven by a full case of Chateau Latour 1945, which sold for $120,178. Christie’s believes this is likely a new world record for Latour at auction and certainly one of the highest prices ever paid for an individual lot at the auction house.
Another highlight was a 12-bottle assortment of 1990 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, which sold for double its pre-sale estimate at $72,000.
Edwin Vos, head of wine sales for Continental Europe, commented: “Since 2015 the sales have attracted more and more buyers, the offering grew to over 760 lots and each sale result has achieved sell-through rates at above 90%.
“This spring, the sale represents the highest total for any Christie’s wine auction in Switzerland at CHF 4,320,960 (US$4.2m). The sale was appreciated by registrants from 24 countries, resulting in final prices often doubling or tripling their pre-sale estimates.
“Again, online participation was very strong and occurred in 45% of all 702 lots offered. The Swiss Rare Wine market is very active and vibrant and we are playing a significant role in developing this market, including to attract more private buyers, which grew to over 45% to today.”
