NEW AT CHRISTIE'S: BURGUNDY FROM THE CELLARS OF KING'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE
April 2022: Wine lovers will love Christie’s June Finest and Rarest Wines and Spirits auction, which will present a superb selection of Burgundy from the historic, vaulted cellars of King’s College, Cambridge. If you’d like to bid, the auction will take place on 8th June in the evening, at Christie’s King Street. Expect to see 45 lots - some of the rarest and most extraordinary Burgundies ever bottled. Not to be missed.
Cambridge University has a long association with wine - the University Wine Society was founded in 1792. King’s College has one of the finest of all the Oxbridge colleges’ wine cellars, filled with the most coveted bottles. I was intrigued to discover that throughout the 20th and 21st century, there have only been four Wine Stewards - they act as custodians of the cellar, nurturing and developing its collection.
According to Christie’s, the auction will present Burgundy from Henri Jayer and Emmanuel Rouget, boasting the finest provenance and storage history. The wine was bought on release by the College, from the UK importer for Henri Jayer, Richards-Walford, and transferred on purchase to King’s cellars, from where they have never moved until now.
Who are Henri Jayer and Emmanuel Rouget? Jayer was one of Burgundy’s most revered winemakers, and his nephew, Emmanuel Rouget who now owns many of Jayer’s most famous vineyards, makes wines that follow in his uncle’s legendary style. Highlights of the collection include two of the finest terroirs of Jayer and Rouget – Echézeaux and Vosne- Romanée Cros Parantoux. Now you know.
Noah May, Head of Christie’s Wine & Spirits Department, London: “Christie's Wine & Spirits Department are delighted to present these exceptional Burgundies from the historic cellars of King’s College, Cambridge as a highlight of our Luxury auctions this June. The College has a long history of wine collecting, with the wine cellars of King’s almost as legendary as the College itself. The wines of Henri Jayer and his nephew, Emmanuel Rouget, are known to be incredibly elegant, pure and profound, with these bottles boasting the finest provenance and condition. This is a collection that is sure to resonate with wine collectors the world over.”
Adam Bilbey, Christie’s Global Head of the Wine and Spirits Department: “The hallowed cellars of King’s College, Cambridge are steeped in such history and tradition that this sale will garner the imagination and attention of wine lovers around the world. This small glimpse into the King’s College cellar will most certainly be a highlight of Christie’s wine sales this season. Combined with the successful launch of online sales in Los Angeles, three highly important single owner sales in Hong Kong, including ‘The Visionary’s Spectacular Cellar, Sold to Further the Impact of London Business School’, this Spring is shaping up to be one not to be forgotten.”
Professor Peter de Bolla, King’s College Cambridge: “Over time every serious collector of fine wines begins to regard their precious purchases as long-term friends, even proudly, and absurdly, thinking of them as if they might in some curious way be their children. But of course they are not, they are the progeny of extraordinarily skilful, dedicated, even obsessive winemakers. Over the course of my approaching thirty-year stewardship of the cellars of King's College, Cambridge I have been lucky and privileged to meet many such winemakers and have carefully observed the unique maturation profiles of the wines I have bought from them for the college cellar. None have given me as much instruction and education in the amazing arts of winemaking, as well as the wonder and sheer hedonistic enjoyment of wine at its very finest as the wines of Henri Jayer and his nephew Emmanuel Rouget. The time is right to let these 'children' find a new home and provide vinous magic for their lucky new collectors.”
Update on 28th April: Christie’s London Finest and Rarest Wines auction on 28 April totalled £1,415,763 / $1,772,535 / €1,683,342, achieving sell-through rates of 94% by lot and 99% by value. 43% of new registrants to the sale were millennial collectors.
The top lots of the sale were 12 bottles of Petrus 2006, Pomerol, cru exceptionnel, which realised £30,000 / $37,560 / €35,670, alongside 12 bottles of Petrus 2011, Pomerol, cru exceptionnel, which achieved £28,750 / $35,995 / €34,184. 6 magnums of Domaine Leflaive, Chevalier-Montrachet 1992 sold for £27,500 / $34,430 / €32,698.
A further highlight of the sale was a pristine collection of wines from Bodegas Vega Sicilia - arguably the greatest wine of the Ribera del Duero. The collection achieved £284,313 / $355,959 / €338,048 almost double the pre-sale estimate and was led by 7 bottles of Vega Sicilia, Unico 1962, which sold for £22,500 / $28,170 / €26,753. The collector amassed this world class offering over half a century of buying directly from the producer.
A bottle of 1792 Madeira, which was from an aristocratic cellar in Ireland and believed to have been purchased in the mid-19th century directly from Blandy's, realised £25,000 / $31,300 / €29,725.
