Even during the summer months, there was no let-up in our auctions. We take a closer look at the stars of the moment.
The star of our August auctions was a vertical of Porto Nacional from Quinta do Noval, an iconic domain that goes all the way back to 1715 and has always shown outstanding inventiveness. These vintage bottles (from 1963 to 1994) are only produced when the year is deemed ‘exceptional’ by the Interprofession of Porto wines, were snapped up by Austrian, Luxembourgeois and French wine lovers. Funnily enough, these years were not particularly special in France: it just goes to show that one can always find a good vintage, whatever the region! ‘Nacional’ in the title means that these ports are the domain’s vintage ports produced from ungrafted vines grown on a small parcel that was spared by phylloxera.
Far from the warmth of Portugal, Germany produces some of the world’s best Rieslings. A Hong Kong enthusiast with a taste for the legendary purity of these vinous delights was the lucky winner of a bottle of Riesling G-Max 2005. An extremely rare wine that owes its success to the genial work of Weingut Keller; a wine that combines depth, richness, delicacy and persistence.
The grands crus of Bordeaux were stable during the summer, with some of the great years showing good results such as 1982 (Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande) and 1990 (Château Lynch Bages). The 2005 vintage performed well (Château Smith Haut Lafitte), as did 2009 (Château Montrose). Interestingly, while both prestigious years and recent vintages of Petrus are stagnating, less prestigious or older vintages are doing well (1973, 1992, 1994).
As always, the greats of the Côte de Nuits and the Côte de Beaune are attracting ever more foreign wine lovers; a huge majority of these bottles are destined for far-flung countries. Domains Leroy (Chambertin Grand Cru 1996), Coche-Dury (Corton-Charlemagne 2005) and DRC (Romanée-Saint-Vivant 1979) sit at the podium.
Still in northern France, we head to a region whose wines are radically different. We all know how much enophiles clamour for Clos Rougeard’s Saumur-Champigny, but this time, the region stands out for its old Vouvrays. Le Haut-Lieu, the Constance cuvée and Clos du Bourg from Domaine Huet feature in the illustrious years 1919, 1953 and 1997.
The Jura has been attracting increasing attention in recent years. Domaine des Miroirs, a rather mysterious, tiny property that belonged to talented Japanese winemaker Kenjiro Kagami for some years, continues to perform very well at auction.
Once again, these auctions confirm the interest for mature wines in good vintages: if you are interested in selling your wines with us, ask for a free estimation of your wines.
