We are always filled with great pride presenting our Fine and Rare wine auctions and August is no exception. An evening spent with family and friends over a bottle of fine wine is always enjoyable and we believe that there will be something for all palates and wallets in our latest offering.
This auction features no less than nine wines with perfect scores of either 100 or 20/20. Not to mention the 99+ wines that also feature. These high scoring wines are across all sections of the catalogue covering vintages from the very early 90s through to recent vintages. There is also the 2001 Chateau Rieussec which was Wine Spectator’s Wine of the Year in 2004 and the 2012 Molly Dooker Carnival of Love Shiraz which was their second ranked wine for 2014.
The New Zealand section gets us underway with the usual suspects but also features numerous vintages of Te Motu and the great value Te Whau wines from Waiheke, as well as rarely seen wines from Kidnapper Cliffs.
NZ pinots are always sought after and we have some of the very best with Felton Road, Rippon, Escarpment, and the highlight for me are the many vintages of Ata Rangi and Dry River that have all come from a professional storage facility. We round out the New Zealand section with some succulent Chardonnays, refreshing Rieslings and delicious dessert wines.
No auction is Australasia is complete without Penfolds and we have some of their best and rarely made wines with the last of our Block 42 and Bin 60A wines headlining with Grange, Bins 707, 407 and 389 as well as St Henri and RWT. Three vintages of Torbreck RunRig (all scoring 99 points or above) and the outstanding Moss Wood from Margaret River.
The other new world wines should be of some interest too; the iconic Opus One, wines from Aubert de Villaines and his wife’s family winery in the guise of Hyde de Villaine (Pinot Noir and Chardonnay available), and the mouth-watering wines of Catena Zapata from Argentina.
Things really start fizzing in the Champagne section with probably the best assortment that we have put forward in one of our auctions. Multiple vintages of Salon sit proudly next to Krug vintage and MV, Bollinger RD and Vieilles Vignes, Dom Perignon 2004 and 2006 as well as Plenitude, Louis Roederer Cristal 1999 and 2006, Perrier Jouet Blanc de Blanc and Belle Epoque and a 1990 Veuve Clicquot Cave Privee Collection gift box.
The always popular Rhone section has some real gems with Jean-Louis Chave, Ferraton, Rostaign and the highly regarded 1990 Jaboulet La Chapelle.
The fastest growing category presently is Burgundy, and we have some absolute belters! Not only have we secured wines from the former winemaker at de Vogue, Francois Millet, and his new family label but there is also Rousseau, Prince Florent de Merode, Albert Bichot Grand Crus, Dujac and Dauvissat. Plenty of wines there to bring a sparkle to one’s eye.
Bordeaux is always very popular, and it is easy to see why when we can offer all the First Growths, several Super Seconds backed up with Fabulous Fifths from the Medoc. But that’s not all by any means with Chateau Mission Haut Brion from Pessac Leognan, Angelus and Cheval Blanc from St Emilion and Trotanoy from Pomerol.
We finish the auction with some aged Vintage Ports which should be very warming on a cold winter’s evening but if you are looking for something extremely rare (only 420 bottles produced) it has to be Elon Musk’s Telsa Tequila. This sold out in a matter of hours when released and we are not too sure there will be many bottles, if any, here in New Zealand - the packaging is amazing!
As with buying any second-hand goods there can be risk. This risk can be mitigated through reviewing widely available vintage reports and critic reviews and imposing realistic expectations. The reward however, of a fine wine at its absolute peak of maturity, offering its full range of primary, secondary and tertiary flavours should be significant enough for most to negate the occasional disappointment.
So, 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.
