Monday 23 January 2012

CHRISTIE’S TO AUCTION ART AND WINE TOGETHER

20th January, 2012 by Rupert Millar

Christie’s is to auction old master paintings and fine wine at its first sale of the year in New York next week.
Described as a “fitting complement” to “The Art of France”
sale during Old Masters Week, Christie’s has decided to
sell selected cases of “benchmark” French estates in
Bordeaux, Burgundy, the Rhône and Champagne.
In total, 158 lots of fine wine will be offered at the
auction on 25 January at the Rockefeller Centre.
Bordeaux lots include cases of Pétrus 1970-2005,
with the 1982 valued at US$42,000-US$65,000; 1982 Lafite (one case at US$35,000-US$45,000)
 and Latour (6 magnums for US$20,000-US$30,000) and Château d’Yquem from 1990-2002.
The Domaine de la Romanée-Conti selection ranges from 1990-2005,
with an assortment of 1990 Romanée-Conti valued at US$32,000-US$40,000.
From the Rhône, wines include those from Guigal and more artisan Chave.
Robin Kelley O’Connor, head of wines for the Americas at Christie’s, commented:
“We are honoured to co-host this salute to France with our Old Master Paintings team.
“In each of our respective categories, these French classics have been experiencing
a surge of interest as they continue to delight both established and
new generations of collectors from around the world.
Among the great winemaking countries, none is so closely associated with the
art of creating ‘bottled poetry’ as France.
“Coming off a record-setting year of wine sales at Christie’s,
we are pleased to offer collectors from Asia, Europe and the Americas
a chance to add these rare ‘Old Masters’ to their wine collections.”
Following on from the first sales of the year by Sotheby’s,
Acker Merrall & Condit and Zachys, it will be interesting to see how
the house fares especially in selling its Bordeaux lots, which have
suffered a slight hiccup in fortunes of late.
For the art lovers, masterpieces featured in the auction centre
around Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Louis-Lépold Boilly and François Boucher.

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