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.