August 2019 Auction: First impression and highlights

A warm welcome to our August 2019 Auction, we are delighted to have you here. Continue reading for our first impression of the auction, and to see what hand-picked, quality wines have been chosen by our team of in-house experts for your attention.

Lovers of Bordeaux' will be especially charmed by a number of bottles available for bidding this month. Firstly, we are truly honoured to present a remarkable bottle of Château Pétrus Pomerol from the exceptional 1989 vintage. This wine is revered as one of the rarest and most sought-after worldwide, consistently scoring impressively with wine critics and journalists. Robert M Parker and James Suckling both awarded this vintage a prodigious 100 points. A truly rare opportunity to add this noteworthy bottle to your collection. In addition, this month welcomes a case of 2000 vintage Pauillac from the Premier Grand Cru estate of Château Lafite-Rothschild, an impressive case of magnums from 3eme-Cru Château Palmer and an iconic bottle of Château Margaux from 1986.  Breaking our own "no small-format bottles" rule, we further have a trio of half-bottles from "Super-Second" estate Château Ducru-Beaucaillou from the legendary 1961 vintage.

Fanatic about the Rhône Valley? This month we have a number of Châteauneuf-du-Papes worthy of your attention. First up is a Clos Des Papes from the 2007 vintage which was particularly successful for this property. From the same vintage, we also have a wonderful example from Château de Beaucastel. There are not many estates that epitomize Châteauneuf-du-Pape quite like Le Vieux Donjon, and their 1990 vintage was scored 95/100 points by Robert M Parker making it a spectacular addition to any cellar.

Italian wine devotees will triumph at the fine selection of Barolo, Brunello and Valpolicella wines appearing in this months auction. Noteworthy bottles include a Fontafredda Barolo from the exceptional 1989 vintage, a collection of 1999 vintage Barbaresco from Sottimano and a pair of Super-Tuscans in the forms of Tignanello 1995 and Antinori Solaia 2004.  Adventurous fans of Italy's plethora of native grapes shouldn't overlook Duca Bortini's 2002 vintage Negroamaro from Salice Salentino, Bortini's mature Dolcetto from the Piedmont village DOC of Diano d'Alba, or Gianfranco Fino's Primitivo (aka Zinfandel) from the variety's home-town of Manduria.

Those searching for a New-World gem, should take a look at the wines from the Henschke vineyards in the Eden Valley. One of the most historic wine-making families in Australia, they are respected for their Old World approach to contemporary New World wines. We are particularly hypnotized by the 2010 Hill of Grace, which indisputably rivals the quality of Penfolds Grange. Rated as 'exceptional' and put simply by The Langton's Classification (the benchmark for Australian Fine Wine) - "Henschke Hill of Grace Shiraz is Australia's greatest single vineyard wine". Moreover, you can also discover a bottle of 1988 Penfolds Bin 707 in our current auction. Both of these prestigious wines would be something worth securing for any collection.

If you are looking for something a little out of the ordinary this month, why not consider a Hungarian wine? Tokaji is one of the world's great sweet wines, second only to France's Sauternes. This Royal Tokaji Wine Company 5 Puttonos 1996 has won recognised industry awards and scored an impressive 90/100 by Wine Spectator.

Port enthusiasts will be thrilled to see an exciting array of Vintage, Colheita and Tawny Ports in our auction this month. Fans of Colheita Port should note the Messias 1967 Colheita Port, matured in oak barrels for almost 50 years! We expect to see strong bidding on the 12 bottle case of Warre's 1977 Vintage Port - one of the great vintages of the latter half of the 20th century.

In need of a celebration this month? Explore our range of Vintage Champagnes in our current auction. We have a number of exquisite offerings from Moet & Chandon including their superfluous Dom Perignon, as well as a Vilmart's little-known but true cult-status Coeur De Cuvee 1990 Champagne.

If you're a fan of the Italian fortified wine, Marsala, you should take a look at our bottle of Marco De Bartoli 1986 Marsala Superiore. Marco de Bartoli sadly passed away in 2011 having been one of Sicily's most eminent winemakers and a key personality in the drive to reviving consumer awareness of the wines of Marsala, particularly through his use of the native Sicilian white grape varieties, Grillo and Zibibbo.

We are elated to provide our customers with the opportunity to bring home these unique and iconic bottles. To browse our entire auction of fine wines, please do so here.