A new wine year gets under way

The auction on 5 February heralds an exciting 2012. For this occasion, we have an amazingly wide range of the very top wines from regions including Champagne, Bourgogne, Bordeaux and Rhône. Thus, you can bid on Cristal Rosé 1990, Richebourg and Grands Échézeaux 1959 from DRC, d’Yquem 1959, all sorts of bottles from Bordeaux and the incredibly rare Hermitage “La Chapelle” 1961. Fortunately, we have other wines up for sale too which are not in this price bracket! We have visited a number of fascinating wine cellars with older wines and brought back some gems that might not be quite as extravagant. So please carefully examine all the lots, because there are many exciting bottles to bid on.

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A look back at 2011

2011 was a memorable year in many ways for the wine department. We beat our record turnover by a comfortable margin, we achieved a number of remarkable hammer prices, and even beat a number of auction records, while consolidating our foothold in the northern European and Asian markets. Unfortunately, 2011 also saw us saying farewell to Henrik Christensen, a key figure for many years in various facets of the department’s positive development. However, Claus Jensen is coming on board as our new wine expert on 1 April. Going forward, Claus will be able to contribute positively to the department with his immense knowledge of wines as well as his commitment and broad-based network in the world of wine.

2012 and onward

Most people with an interest in wine are aware that the subject of wine is about more than consumption. We all enjoy a nice glass of wine from time to time, and when we do, to one extent or another, we are influencing the price of wine. Partly because there is then one less bottle on the market, and partly because this experience is passed on to others with an interest in wine. This, together with the historical local anchoring of the wine, may go a long way to explaining why the price of the same wine can vary by a significant percentage from country to country. We endeavour always to be at the cutting edge of developments, and here is a foretaste of what we think the immediate future has in store.

2012 may well mark the start of a historic set of very interesting changes. Wines from the Bordeaux region, which for years have been the favourite topic of conversation, must now surrender much of the limelight due to the success and financial progress of other regions. The wines that are staging a comeback are characterised by very small production and high quality. This trend is particularly pronounced in Bourgogne, where producers such as DRC, Armand Rousseau, Comte Liger-Belair and G. Roumier are very much in focus. The best Barolo producers have brought themselves back into the limelight as a result of dedicated effort, and this has also influenced coverage and price development.

We are happy to advise on these trends based on various perspectives, and if you would like to find out more about new trends in the auction market in one of this spring’s newsletters, please e-mail me at msl@bruun-rasmussen.dk with the subject line Trends 2012

Kind regards

Morten Stenør Larsen
Bruun Rasmussen wine department