UK Company Sells Record Breaking Wine Collection

The Antique Wine Company (antique-wine.com) announces today that the record breaking sale of 135 bottles of the world’s most rarefied Sauternes wine, Chateau d’Yquem, was sold to a French buyer – Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat.

One of the World’s most luxurious hotels, situated on the French Riviera, Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat purchased this unique Chateau d’Yquem Collection for the unprecedented sum of £775,000 (1.5 million US dollars).

Housed in two bespoke walnut cabinets designed by Royal furniture maker David Linley, the unrivalled collection spanning three centuries includes every consecutive vintage of Chateau d’Yquem produced between 1860 and 2003. It is the most extensive living archive of the world’s most famous dessert wine ever to come to market. Not even the Chateau itself holds all of these vintages in its cellars.

The sale attracted intense interest from some of the world’s most prolific wine collectors. The Antique Wine Company coordinated a fierce bidding process with potential buyers from Japan, the USA, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Eire, United Kingdom, France, Luxembourg, Russia and Sweden.

Stephen Williams, Managing Director of The Antique Wine Company, comments: “The Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat is immensely rich in history and culture, making it the perfect home for this unique collection. The Antique Wine Company is delighted to be building a long term strategic relationship with Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat as a supplier of Chateau d’Yquem and other fine wines to create a worldwide centre of wine excellence. As part of this, we are launching together a series of fine wine weekend events at the hotel to enrich the hospitality experience of this great institution. The first exclusive wine weekend event will take place between 20th to 22th April this year, featuring the greatest vintages of Chateau Lafite Rothschild with wines from three centuries.”

Michel Galopin, General Manager at Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat, said: “We are very proud to own the finest Chateau d’Yquem Collection in the World and to be bringing it back to France. Chateau d’Yquem is unquestionably the World’s greatest white wine and this exclusive collection will perfectly complement the luxury and refinement of Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat. As part of our development plans for the hotel, we are already working on designs to create a special display area. Through our relationship with the Antique Wine Company, with this acquisition and our unique series of wine events, we intend to increase the hotel’s reputation by creating an international centre of wine excellence.”

In a separate transaction Antique Wine Company supplemented the collection with 68 further vintages of Chateau d’Yquem to enable many bottles from the collection to be available for consumption. On being asked if the older wines in the collection might still be drinkable, Stephen Williams replied, “Absolutely! Chateau d’Yquem has the concentration necessary to mature for many years, even centuries. But the enjoyment of such rare wines is not just a question of taste; it is a remarkably nostalgic experience. In 1860 when peasants in Bordeaux were picking grapes for the oldest bottle in the collection, the US presidential election set the stage for the American Civil War!”