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Bonhams' sale of Fine Wines on 29 November 2005 offers buyers the chance to snap up some incredible vintages just in time for this year's winter festivities. The sale will include a marvellous collection of wine from the cellars of the Villa Lorraine in Brussels, which in 1972 became the first restaurant outside France to be awarded a third Michelin star. Following on from Bonhams' most successful wine sale to date (27 September 2005), the consignment of this hugely exciting selection combines with many other prime vintages to make this one of the season's most anticipated wine auctions.

Since its opening in 1953, Villa Lorraine has become something of a 'Mecca' for gastronomic enthusiasts. The planned renovation of the restaurant's cellars has provided the owners with the perfect opportunity to release into the market a small quantity of older wines, most of which are first-growth clarets from the 1970s and '80s, together with some Sauternes and Burgundy. Most of these wines have been stored since purchase 'en primeur' in the temperature-controlled cellars beneath the restaurant. Examples among the 62 lots include a dozen bottles of Château Lafite-Rothschild 1970 at £1,000 - 1,200, and a dozen Pétrus 1979 at £3,000 - 3,500.

The sale's star lots consist of two of the greatest ever vintages of Cheval Blanc, which have come from a private collector on the continent. A bottle of the legendary 1921 vintage, bottled by Vandermeulen, is estimated at £2,500 - 3,000 and a lot of three bottles of the 1947 shipped by Fourcaud-Laussac is estimated to fetch up to £4,400. From the same collection comes a selection of bottles of Chateau Lafleur 1950 - a magnificent vintage in Pomerol.

There is a fine collection of claret from the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and a good selection from 2002, a year which is increasingly tipped as being of exceptional value. Many fine red and white Burgundies and a range of wine from the Rhone valley complement an interesting selection of Italian wines.

For those preparing for Christmas and New Year celebrations, a fine range of vintage port and champagne, suitable both for drinking now and for laying down, will be tempting. The sale also features a selection of rare dessert wine from Massandra in the Crimea, and a remarkable range of fine Scotch Whisky - the Kinclaith 1967 Single Lowland Malt at £320 - 380 would make a perfect 'wee dram' with which to toast the New Year.

For more details visit the Bonhams web site.