Toast Christmas with some fine wines at auction

Buying wine at auction often means there is a wider selection than at a typical supermarket or off licence and, as a general rule, the prices are lower than for the same bottle at retail. Depending on its age and production, specialist wines can range in price well into the thousands of pounds down to under £50.

Here is a selection coming at auction ahead of Christmas.

Burgundy

Burgundy is an historic wine region in eastern France and it attracts collectors from around the world.

In the mid-price range is this case of six bottles, pictured above, offered at Mitchells at an auction ending on November 29. 

For wine connoisseurs this selection includes a bottle of Nuits-Saints-Georges Premier Cru 2014 (retailing at over £70). The group is offered with an estimate of £240-260.

The lot is part of a charity sale for the Calvert Trust and was donated by The Rotary Club of Keswick. Read more about the collection of burgundy bottles here.

Rioja

Six bottles of Rioja with an estimate of £30-40 at Hartleys on December 12.

For something more affordable why not try this group of Riojas?

At Hartleys on December 12 these six Riojas have an estimate of £30-40.

The group comprises one bottle 1976 Marques de Riscal, three bottles of 2001 and one bottle of 2002 Bodegas Primicia plus a bottle of 1998 Campo Viejo. Alongside the Riojas is a Wine Society Centenary cuvee.

View and bid for the Rioja group here.

Port

A case of six bottles of 1997 Quinta do Vesuviois port in an original wooden case estimated at £100-200 at Lyon & Turnbull on December 9.

It is not Christmas without a bottle of port. This case of six bottles is offered with an estimate of £100-200 at Lyon & Turnbull on December 9.

The six bottles of 1997 Quinta do Vesuvio come in their original wooden case and were previously in the wine cellar of a Edinburgh New Town gentleman.

View and bid for this case of port here.

‘Legendary’

1985 Richebourg by Henri Jayer, estimated at £30,000-50,000 at Dreweatts.

For those specialist collectors looking for something very special, take a look at the Dreweatts sale later this month.

According to Dreweatts, the 1985 Richebourg by Henri Jayer “rightly holds the hallowed status of ‘legendary’ among Burgundy collectors – the sort of wine that people will travel across the world to experience”.

The Donnington Priory saleroom states that Richebourg “always needs more time than other Grand Crus. It takes that little bit longer to show the other-worldy complexity it hides for the first years of its life. The 1985 will now be as Henri Jayer intended when he first harvested the grapes.”

Little is left in the world from an original production of one barrel. The bottle on offer at Dreweatts in the November 26 auction is estimated at £30,000-50,000.

Bordeaux

A bottle of Chateau Latour 1966, estimated at £4500-5500 at Dreweatts

For another top example in its field, this bottle of Bordeaux is guided at £4500-5500 at Dreweatts. The Chateau Latour 1966 has been owned by the same family since it first arrived on these shores. This “sensational and unique jeroboam of 1966 Chateau Latour is in perfect condition and presented in the box it was originally shipped”, says Dreweatts.

The 1966 vintage, one of the favourite vintages of renowned wine writer Michael Broadbent (perhaps best-known as the man who restarted Christie’s wine auctions in the 1960s), is described by Dreweatts as a “lean long distance runner” and “magnificent depth, enormous, well stacked and velvety”. In such a large format, the ageing process slows considerably and “the new owner of this wine will have no urgent need to drink it, but very hard to resist this titan of wines at the peak of its powers”.

View Dreweatts November 26 auction via thesaleroom.com.

View more wine and spirits at auction here. 

Read thesaleroom.com's buying guide on wine here.