In Tennants Auctioneers’ Wine and Whisky sale on the 2nd December, leading the sale were two lots of Château Lafite Rothschild, one was a bottle of Château Lafite Rothschild 1990, Pauillac (one magnum), and the other, two bottles of Château Lafite Rothschild 1986, Pauillac, which sold for impressive hammer prices of £1,700 and £1,200 respectively, surpassing their estimates (all figures excluding buyer’s premium).
Château Lafite Rothschild is widely regarded as the highest quality Red Bordeaux and is ranked “first growth” in Napoleon III’s 1855 Bordeaux Classification. Famed for its intense blackcurrant flavours typical of wines of Pauillac and its characteristic aroma, this wine has an energetic, yet refined decadence to it. It is only fitting, therefore, that these bottles led the way for a successful sale seeing similarly impressive results such as a Château Latour 1963 Pauillac-Médoc (one magnum) reach £900.
Notably, seven bottles of Taylor's 1963 Vintage Port sold highly at £950. Taylor port wine was established three centuries ago in 1692 and remains a leader in port production. Taylor’s 1963 classic vintage is particularly sought after, reflecting the year of 1963’s near-perfect growing season and weather temperature during harvest lending its way for a selection of ports which score highly in flavour and are a benchmark for vintage ports globally.
Representing the whisky, a bottle of Bunnahabhain 1965 16-year-old pure malt scotch whisky made an impressive £1,000. Built in 1881, the Bunnahabhain distillery can be found on the remote and sheltered north-eastern coast of Islay, the most southerly of the Hebridean Islands, and is famous for distilling whisky from lightly peated malted barley creating a drink with a distinctive flavour. A fine example of a Mackillop's Choice Single Cask Malt Scotch Whisky, Ardbeg 1993 21-year-old (distilled in 1993 and bottled 2014) also performed well selling for £850, surpassing its estimate.
The sale consistently saw high prices, including Château Latour 1963 Pauillac-Médoc (one magnum) (sold for £800), six bottles of Château Lynch Bages 1985, Pauillac (sold for £800), twelve bottles of Domaine Henri Georges 2015 Nuits-St-Georges (sold for £800), Remy Martin Louis XIII Grandé Champagne Cognac (sold for £800), and twelve bottles of Graham's 1970 Vintage Port (sold for £800).
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