But as my neighbour at dinner last night, himself one of many successful bidders who were wined and dined by the vendor at Cru the night before the auction, pointed out, wine is still a steal relative to other investments. Even if he’d bought every lot he’d only have spent $24 million while a single Jasper Johns could set you back more than $80 million…
According to Acker Merrall’s marathon man of the saleroom John Kapon, “the most spirited bidding came from those who knew the owner of the collection personally and have been treated to many wines from his cellar; the reputation and provenance of his cellar preceded him. Many of those bidders were able to taste an incredible assortment of legendary wines the Thursday night before the sale. Thursday night's pre-sale event had five or six near perfect wines for me. I will never forget the four Romanée Contis: 1929, 1937, 1959 and 1962...or the 1962 La Tache...or the 1959 Ponsot...or the 1945 Roumier Bonnes Mares...or the mags of ‘59 Lafite and ‘61 La Miss...or...”
Word document PDF: click here
24 lots went for over $100,000:
2222 12 bottle 1990 Romanée Conti, DRC $161,325
629 12 bottle 1945 Chateau Mouton Rothschild Pauillac $155,350
630 12 bottle 1945 Chateau Mouton Rothschild Pauillac $155,350
632 6 magnum 1945 Chateau Mouton Rothschild Pauillac $155,350
1604 6 magnum 1962 Musigny Vieilles Vignes, Comte de Vogue $149,375
2173 12 bottle 1962 Romanée Conti, DRC $131,450
2152 2 magnum 1929 Romanée Conti, DRC $125,475
2063 12 bottle 1962 La Tache, DRC $125,475
2206 12 bottle 1978 Romanée Conti, DRC $125,475
2208 6 magnum 1978 Romanée Conti, DRC $125,475
2210 1 Methuselah 1978 Romanée Conti, DRC $125,475
2166A 12 bottle 1959 Romanée Cont,i DRC $125,475
704 6 magnum 1947 Chateau Cheval Blanc St Emilion $119,500
699 12 bottle 1947 Chateau Cheval Blanc St Emilion $113,525
1815 6 bottle 1923 Bonnes Mares, G Roumier $113,525
700 12 bottle 1947 Chateau Cheval Blanc St Emilion $107,550
1902 12 bottle 1959 Musigny, G Roumier $107,550
2261 1 Methuselah 2001 Romanée Conti DRC
1 Methuselah 2002 Romanée Conti DRC $107,550
738 12 bottle 1947 Chateau Pétrus Pomerol $101,575
2144 1 magnum 1911 Romanée Conti DRC $101,575
2146 1 magnum 1919 Romanée Conti DRC $101,575
2064 4 magnum 1962 La Tache DRC $101,575
2193 12 bottle 1971 Romanée Conti DRC $101,575
2199 1 Methuselah 1971 Romanée Conti DRC $101,575.00
Single-owner sale raises over $24 million
Wednesday 25 October 2006
• 1 min read
New York auctioneer Acker Merrall & Condit shattered the previous world record of $14.4 million for a wine auction by over $10 million dollars with an extraordinary two-day sale of part of a single cellar which notched up a total of more than $24.4 million. More than 94% of these hedonistic lots were sold and many new individual records were made (see below). The vendor is barely 30 and this was his second large sale of huge quantities of some of the wine world’s rarest names. No wonder Acker M keep stressing the quality of the provenance.
Complete sale results can be found at www.ackerwines.com/archives
Become a member to continue reading
Member
$135
/year
Ideal for wine enthusiasts
- Access 287,534 wine reviews & 15,851 articles
- Access The Oxford Companion to Wine & The World Atlas of Wine
Inner Circle
$249
/year
Ideal for collectors
- Access 287,534 wine reviews & 15,851 articles
- Access The Oxford Companion to Wine & The World Atlas of Wine
- Early access to the latest wine reviews & articles, 48 hours in advance
Professional
$299
/year
For individual wine professionals
- Access 287,534 wine reviews & 15,851 articles
- Access The Oxford Companion to Wine & The World Atlas of Wine
- Early access to the latest wine reviews & articles, 48 hours in advance
- Commercial use of up to 25 wine reviews & scores for marketing
Business
$399
/year
For companies in the wine trade
- Access 287,534 wine reviews & 15,851 articles
- Access The Oxford Companion to Wine & The World Atlas of Wine
- Early access to the latest wine reviews & articles, 48 hours in advance
- Commercial use of up to 250 wine reviews & scores for marketing
More Free for all
Free for all
But how long will Madeira, one of the great fortified wines, survive tourist development on this extraordinary Atlantic island? A...
Free for all
Information about UK merchants offering 2024 burgundy en primeur. Above, a pair of ‘brouettes’ for burning prunings, seen in the...
Free for all
De-alcoholised wine is a poor substitute for the real thing. But there are one or two palatable alternatives. A version...
Free for all
Demand, and prices, are falling. A version of this article is published by the Financial Times. Above, the view from...
More from JancisRobinson.com
Wine news in 5
Plus, Telmont becomes Champagne’s first Regenerative Organic Certified producer, Argentina repeals wine regulations and the EU rules on de-alcoholised wine...
Tasting articles
Wines from this extraordinary Portuguese island in the middle of the Atlantic, varying from five to 155 years old. The...
Wines of the week
A perfectly ordinary extraordinary wine. From €19.60, £28.33, $19.99 (direct from the US importer, K&L Wines).
A few months ago...
Tasting articles
Once a bit player, Pinot Meunier is increasingly taking a starring role in English wines. Above, a Pinot Meunier vine...
Tasting articles
Quite a vertical! In London in November 2025, presented by Opus’s long-standing winemaker.
Opus One is the wine world’s seminal...
Tasting articles
Save water, drink these wines from the Deep Roots Coalition, a group of producers who eschew irrigation. Among them is...
Tasting articles
Twenty-two reasons not to do Dry January. Among them, a Pinot Noir produced by Rippon, from their vineyards on the...
Nick on restaurants
Head to the far south of Spain for atmospheric and inexpensive hospitality. Above, the Bar Las Teresas in the old...