Welcome to the first Live auction of 2023, the Lunar New Year and the Year of the Rabbit. This auction features many previous Year of the Rabbit wines;1975 Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou, 1987 Gaja Sori San Lorenzo, 1999 Te Mata Coleraine and Louis Jadot Chambertin and many wines from 2011 including Cloudy Bay Te Wahi, Craggy Range Te Aroha, Two Paddocks, Tommasi Amarone and Guigal La Turque. This auction also features many 100-point wines (or 20/20 equivalent), numerous 99 or 99+ plus wines and a huge amount of larger format bottlings, some of which we have never seen in these sizes before.
We start strongly with vintages of Te Mata Coleraine including the 20/20 1998, backed up in the Hawkes Bay with Church Road Tom and Craggy Range Quarry and Sophia. Auckland features prominently with Destiny Bay, The Antipodean, Providence, Stonyridge, St Nesbit and Puriri Hills to round out the New Zealand Bordeaux blends.
If Pinot is your preferred bottle check out, starting in the north, Martinborough Vineyards, Palliser Estate, Dry River, Craggy Range and Devotus all from Martinborough. Heading across the Strait and down to North Canterbury with Mountford and Pyramid Valley and then moving further down the island we come across Prophets Rock, Cloudy Bay Te Wahi and Two Paddocks all flying the flag for Central Otago.
Our Syrah’s are world class, and this is evident with the heavenly Craggy Range Le Sol, including a rare 5 litre bottling as well as the 2009 and 2013 (both19.5/20-point wines), Mills Reef Elspeth, Bilancia and Trinity Hill Homage from Hawkes Bay. Other regions with celebrated syrahs include Providence and Frenchman’s Hill from Waiheke and Kusuda from Martinborough.
For those craving our beautifully balanced and fresh whites check out the very rare first vintage of Prophets Rock Cuvee aux Antipodes 2018, Church Road Tom Chardonnays, or the very funky Cloudy Bay Te Koko from numerous vintages.
Wines from the lucky country are always well received and this auction is no different with100 point wines 2008 Penfolds Grange and 2010 Clarendon Hills Astralis backed up with 2004 Penfolds Grange and 2002 Clarendon Hills Astralis (both 99 points). These are nestled in with Block 42 from Penfolds along with Bins 707 and 389. Henschke Hill of Grace, Rockford Basket Press and Jim Barry Armagh from South Australia bring a bit of muscle to the party.
If European travel is on your wish list, then prime yourself with and enjoy the wines from our favourite European destinations. Germany kicks things off with wines from Donnhoff, Egon Muller and Joh Jos Prumm. Italy has some wonderful food wines with Gaja from Piedmont but for me the Tuscans with Masseto (including the 100 point 2006 and a 3 litre bottling), Ornellaia (including a 3 litre bottling), Antinori’s Tignanello (in magnum), Sassicaia (in magnum) and Biondi Santi are hard to go past. Spain too has its superstars with Numanthia from Toro and Vega-Sicilia from Ribera del Duero. If you’re seeking a bit of age, then check out the 1975 Gran Reserva.
Next stop France! We kick off the Champagne section with a still wine – yes that’s correct you read that right. Bollinger’s Coteaux aux Enfants is a pinot noir from Grand Cru vineyards bottled as a table wine. If you are looking for something in the more traditional style Laurent Perrier’s Alexandra Rose or Grand Siecle will leave you all tingly and the power of the 2003 Dom Perignon will make you look for more of the same.
Loire pops up for the first time in a while but what a way to make an entrance with 1971 Marc Bredif Vouvray and a couple of vintages of Didier Dagueneau Silex!
Oh Lala - Rhone also has had some great wines in our auctions of late and we continue this run with a 100 point wines from Guigal including the 2003 La Mouline and 2005 La Landonne, Beaucastel’s 1990 Hommage and a 99 point Beaucastel Blanc. We continue to spoil you for choice with more Guigal Lalas and Chateau d’Ampuis as well as Jamet from Cote Rotie, Clape Cornas, and JL Chave’s Selection Farconnet, Paul Jaboulet La Chapelle and Guigal’s Ex-Voto all from Hermitage. If the Southern Rhone floats your boat there is more Beaucastel Hommage, with Mordoree, Pegau, Vieux Telegraphe and Clos des Papes from Chateauneuf du Pape. Oh Lala indeed!
Burgundy is currently our biggest growth category, and we are delighted with the selection we can offer including wines from Grivot, Armand Rousseau, Arnoux Lachaux, Bouchard, Dujac, de Vogue, Bruno Clavelier, Lamarche and Domaine de la Romanee Conti. There is also a 1959 Avery’s bottling of Chambertin. The white Burgundies are equally impressive with Boillot, Comtes Lafon and Domaine Leflaive.
Bordeaux is continues to impress with big bottlings of Chateau Latour 1995 (6 litre) and the 100-point 2003 Chateau Montrose (3 litre). We also feature the 99 point or above wines from Pavie, Lafleur and Angelus. If that’s not enough there is always Chateaux Margaux and Mouton Rothschild representing the First Growths, or Chateau Le Pin and Petrus from Pomerol. Again, for those seeking age then be sure to look at the 1955 Chateau Rauzan-Gassies. That should bring a smile to one’s face!
And now for the afters, to wash down all these gorgeous wines, we offer another 100 point wine from Quinta do Noval with their 2003 Nacional or the 1977 Warres Vinatge Port.
Last but by no means least is a CellarPro unit if you are wanting to build your own temperature controlled cellar at home. We used this at home, and it has served us well but we no longer need it as we are storing our wines at The Wine Storage Room. Please note the CellarPro unit is for collection only.
If the risk-reward scales are deemed favourable, we have a lovely selection of wines at various stages of maturity available in our current auction. Happy browsing and please bid responsibly.
All bids are binding.
