chateau lafite

Chateau Lafite Rothschild: Exquisite Wine from Bordeaux

Filed under: Wine

It's safe to say that Halloween isn't celebrated in Asia with quite the same vigor as it is in the U.S. But this year, the last week of October brought some scary wine prices to Hong Kong: a lot of three bottles of 1869 Chateau Lafite Rothschild went for $698,076, or $232,692 per bottle---setting a new world record for the most expensive bottle of wine sold at auction.

"I happened to have one, from a different source, a few weeks before the auction and it was fabulous," says Jamie Ritchie, CEO and President of Americas and Asia for Sotheby's Wine. "We served it blind and the nearest guess on the age was 1959. What really made these bottles rare is the fact that they came directly from Chateau Lafite's cellars and were the oldest wines in the auction---you cannot get better provenance than that."

That provenance has been a part of Chateau Lafite for hundreds of years, part of the reason it's the winner of the Luxist Editors' Choice award for best in wine. Lafite's current incarnation dates back to 1868, when Baron James de Rothschild---a patriarch of the famous European banking family of the same name---purchased the Lafite estate, which had already been producing wine for at least a century.

Tags: awards-main, best wine, bordeaux, bordeaux wine, chateau lafite, chateau lafite rothschild, Chateau Lafite-Rothschild, Jamie Ritchie, luxist-awards, sothebys, winners-wine, winners-wines

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Sotheby's Wine Auction Achieves Record Results

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine, Auctions

Jamie Ritchie, auctioneer, presiding over a Sotheby's wine auction.

Sotheby's auction of fine and rare wines including the 2000 Collection on behalf of Bordeaux Winebank on November 13, was a huge success, signaling that the 2000 vintage is living up to its expectations.

Sotheby's sold all but two of the lots for a grand total of $5.4 million, well over the pre-sale estimate of $3.2 million to $4.6 million (estimates do not include the buyer's premium). Bordeaux Winebank's "2000" Collection set six wine auction records.

According to Sotheby's, there was also strong demand for wine from a number of other collections with strong prices for all of the First Growths as well as Burgandy, resulting in 64% of the sold lots achieving prices over the high estimate.

Online bidders were particularly active, with 15% of the lots sold to collectors bidding over the Internet. Nearly half of the lots offered received online bids and 55 people logged onto bid live online, which was the highest ever level of online participation in a Sotheby's Wine auction.

"We were delighted by the success of the sale---the highest value various owner wine sale ever held at Sotheby's New York," says Sotheby's Jamie Ritchie (above), Head of Wine, North America and a Luxist Awards Expert Panelist.

Gallery: Sotheby's Bordeaux Winebank 2000 Collection Auction

Tags: auction, awards-main, bordeaux wine, Bordeaux Winebank, chateau lafite, Chateau Lafite-Rothschild, chateau mouton rothschild, Chateau Petrus, Henning Thoresen, luxist-awards, Petrus, Sothebys, wine

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Sotheby's to Auction Bordeaux Winebank's "2000" Collection

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine, Auctions

Sotheby's will offer an important selection of the 2000 vintage from Bordeaux Winebank, the company set up by Norwegian businessman Henning Thoresen that specializes in offering Bordeaux with the "Five Star Provenance" system. The sale celebrates the 10th anniversary of the great 2000 vintage.

A selection from the Bordeaux Winebank collection will make up a substantial part of the Finest and Rarest Wines sale on November 13th in New York with 128 lots expected to sell for between $890,500 to $1.3 million in total (not including the buyer's premium).

The auction, which will feature such wines as Chateau Lafite, Chateau Latour, Chateau Mouton Rothschild and Chateau Margaux, is expected to be one of the highest-value various-owner wine sales ever held at Sotheby's New York. The auction will take place at Sotheby's location at 1334 York Avenue at East 72nd Street in Manhattan. Sotheby's Jamie Ritchie, Head of Wine, North America (and a Luxist Awards Expert Panelist), will serve as the lead auctioneer tomorrow in New York (see photo above).

Gallery: Sotheby's Bordeaux Winebank 2000 Collection Auction

Tags: auction, awards-main, Bordeaux, Bordeaux 2000, Bordeaux Winebank, chateau lafite, chateau margaux, chateau mouton rothschild, Jamie Ritchie, luxist-awards, Sothebys, wine

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Wine 'Superlot' Sells For $320,000

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine, Auctions

One bidder at Skinner's recent wine sale on November 2 basically bought a wine cellar's worth of wine in one swoop of the auction paddle. The Bordeaux wine 'superlot' was comprised of 50 cases of wine including 10 cases of Chateau Haut Brion 1995-2004; 10 cases Chateau Lafite Rothschild 1995-2004; 10 cases of Chateau Latour 1995-2004; 10 cases of Chateau Margaux 1995-2004 and 10 cases of Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1995-2004. The first growth Bordeaux are basically the blue chip stocks of the wine world making this an easy investment for someone interested in filling a wine cellar very quickly with some of the most famous brands. The estimate for the lot was $200,000-300,000. It sold for $320,000.

[via Paul Fraser Collectibles]

Tags: auction, bordeaux, bordeaux wine, chateau haut-brion, chateau lafite, chateau latour, chateau margaux, chateau mouton rothschild, superlot, wine

Most Expensive Wine Sells At Auction In Hong Kong

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine, Auctions

Over the past couple years we've seen wine auction prices in Hong Kong rise and rise. A new level was achieved this week when three bottles of Châteaux Lafite-Rothschild 1869 sold at a Hong Kong auction by Sotheby's for an astounding hammer price of $232,692 a bottle (a total of $698,076). That makes these the most expensive bottles of wine ever sold at auction. The entire sale of treasures direct from the legendary Chateau Lafite brought in a total of $8.4 million, tripling the pre-sale high estimate of $2.5 million. Every lot was sold, adding to the success of Sotheby's Hong Kong in maintaining the tenth consecutive 100%-sold wine auction in Asia in the last 18 months. It is only auction house to achieve this record.

The sale featured 284 lots of Lafite, as well as the other chateaux owned by Domaines Baron de Rothschild, all with direct-from-the-cellar perfect provenance. Before being shipped to Hong Kong, these bottles never left the cellars in which they were placed immediately after being made.

Baron Eric de Rothschild, owner of Chateau Lafite, said: "I am delighted that this unique auction brought Lafite to so many true connoisseurs and wine lovers. Our aim was to open our cellar doors to the friends of Chateau Lafite in Asia so that they could enjoy fabulous vintages in the best possible condition. We are very happy that Sotheby's took Lafite to new heights with this sale and we toast all those followers of Lafite who appreciate the passion with which we make it."

[via The Wealth Report]

Tags: chateau lafite, Chateau Lafite-Rothschild, hong kong wine auction, most expensive, most expensive wine, sothebys, wine auction

Chateau Lafite Rothschild Wins the Readers' Choice Award for Best International Red Wine

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

Chateau Lafite Rothschild is nominated for Best International Red Wine.

With a history dating back centuries and a claim to the most expensive bottle of wine ever sold, Chateau Lafite Rothschild is a fitting winner for the Luxist Awards' Readers' Choice Award in the best international red wine category.

In 1787, scarcely ten years after some ambitious colonists declared a new country across the Atlantic, a small French winery called Chateau Lafite produced a very special bottle. Little did the resident oenologist know that nearly 200 years later, the bottle would sell for 105,000 pounds – roughly $160,000 – setting the mark for price that has stood since 1985.

When Baron James de Rothschild, a patriarch of the famous European banking family, purchased Chateau Lafite in 1868, it was perhaps a sign of a good investment recognized. But the Baron never saw his purchase bear fruit – he passed away just three months later, leaving the renamed Chateau Lafite-Rothschild estate to his three sons.

Gallery: Chateau Lafite Rothschild

Over a century later, Chateau Lafite Rothschild remains one of the world's most esteemed wine estates, producing some 35,000 cases per year. Much like the record-setting bottle from 1787, even the most recent vintages continue to rapidly appreciate in value – the 2008 Lafite Rothschild was valued at 1,500 pounds upon its release, but bottle prices more than doubled within two weeks. Baron James would be proud.

Tags: awards-main, bordeaux, bordeaux wine, chateau lafite, Chateau Lafite-Rothschild, Luxist-Awards, red wine, wine, winner-wine, winners-wine, winners-wines

Chateau Lafite Heads To China

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

China has been buying into the Bordeaux region of France for a while but the opposite move is also taking place. Decanter reports that Bordeaux first growth Chateau Lafite is working on a vineyard in China. Chateau Lafite has a very high reputation on China and has partnered with CITIC, China's largest state-owned investment company on over 60 acres of vines on the peninsula of Penglai in Shandong province. The Penglai peninsula is on its easternmost tip of the province and wine companies there already produce Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Some say the region is China's Bordeaux. A website for the region promotes the fact that it is located at north latitude 37º along with Bordeaux and Napa Valley.

Interest in wine in China has risen dramatically over the past few years and with its large population and spending power that interest is only expected to increase. The presence of Domaines Barons de Rothschild, Chateau Lafite's parent company, in Penglai adds tremendous clout to the wine growing region and will garner worldwide interest similar to what happened when Domaines Barons de Rothschild made its first forays into South American vineyards.

Source

Tags: bordeaux, chateau lafite, ChateauLafite, china, rothschild, wine

Top 5 Wines for Investment via Vanquish Wine

by Laura Malesich (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

As Wall Street continues to disappoint you may find yourself seeking alternative money-making strategies as opposed to stocks and bonds. While wine is obviously fine for enjoyment it can also act as a unique investment option. It's important to note that putting your money on fine wine does not incur a capital gains tax since it is considered a 'wasting asset' only expected to last fifty years. Your best bet is a first growth from the Bordeaux region and Vanquish Wine, a bespoke wine service for private clients, suggests these top five:

Chateau Petrus
Chateau Margaux
Chateau Latour
Chateau Mouton Rothschild
Chateau Lafite

Sounds like a bottle in the hand is better than a buck in the market.

Source

Tags: chateau lafite, chateau latour, chateau margaux, chateau mouton rothschild, chateau petrus, ChateauLafite, ChateauLatour, ChateauMargaux, ChateauMoutonRothschild, ChateauPetrus, vanquish wine, vanquish-wine, VanquishWine, wine investing, wine investment, WineInvesting, WineInvestment

Frye's Wine Cellar Breaks Records

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine, Auctions

It was set to be an amazing sale but the results of Sotheby's auction of the wine cellar of Russell H. Frye exceeded expectations. Eight auction records were broken and bidders spent $7.8 million on the auction, which was only estimated tor bring in $5.1 million. Big ticket items included a double magnum of 1865 Château Lafite which sold for $111,625, a case of 1989 Romanée-Conti, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti which went for $111,625 and two magnums of 1947 Cheval-Blanc which sold for $105,750. Frye, who has switched his obsessive nature from wine to tennis, can now afford lot of rackets and perhaps a new house to put them in.

Source

Tags: chateau lafite, cheval-blanc, russell H. frye, RussellH.Frye, sotheby's, wine