A total of £72,600 was raised from 79 lots at the sixteenth DWWA wine auction hosted by Christie’s on 2 December – beating a record set in 2018. This total excludes Christie’s buyer’s premium.
All proceeds will be added to funds raised by Decanter throughout the DWWA this year. Charities supported include The Drinks Trust, WaterAid, Cancer Research UK, Change Please, Decanter Apprenticeships and more. Over the past 12 months, Decanter has donated in excess of £100,000 to these charities.
The auction took place at Christie’s’ King Street headquarters in London, with bidding coming from a number of countries from North America, Europe and Asia.
After a record year for entries at the 2021 Decanter World Wine Awards, there were a bumper number of lots in this year’s auction. This included 24 Champagne, 21 Italian reds (from the premier regions of Piedmont, Tuscany and Veneto) and seven white Burgundy lots.
Buxton – turning water into wine
Spirited bidding took place within the room and from the numerous bidders online and via the telephone. One particular highlight pitted a bidder from Buxton in England versus New York City.
Italian reds, Rhône Valley and white Burgundy proved particularly popular with the latter being of particularly interest for bidders – 100% of lots easily beating their pre-sale high estimates set by Christie’s.
Tim Triptree MW, Christie’s international director told Decanter in an exclusive interview that white Burgundy had become highly popular with bidders with Christie’s in recent years.
Find out more about what happens behind the scenes at an international fine wine and spirit auction at our Decanter at Home event. Book tickets here.
Top lots
All lots offered for sale beat pre-sale high estimates set by Christie’s. Highlights included:
- One 60-bottle mixed cases of white Burgundy, including Chassagne and Puligny Montrachet, Meursault and Chablis, which sold for £,800 (high estimate £1,000)
- Two 60-bottle cases of Champagne, including a selection of vintage, non-vintage and rosé Champagne from small growers to Grandes Marques, which sold for £1,200 (high estimate £1,100)
- Two lots of 48-bottle cases of Rhône Valley, including wines from the communes of Gigondas, Châteauneuf-du-Pape and a small selection of Northern Rhône such as Hermitage, Côte-Rôtie and Cornas, which sold for £1,300 and £1,100 respectively (high estimate: £600)
Commenting on the auction results and partnership with Decanter, Charlie Foley, Christie’s wine specialist and auctioneer, said: “Christie’s is delighted to partner with Decanter for the annual World Wine Awards auction. It was fantastic to see energetic bidding in the room and a glorious amount of activity internationally online. Great prices were achieved across all categories, and seeing this substantial amount of money go to charitable causes is heart-warming. We wish all Christie’s collectors and Decanter readers a Merry Christmas and look forward to our Decanter At Home collaboration this festive season.”
More information about this year’s sale available here.
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