Eight bottles of 1947 Cheval Blanc billed as ‘the world’s most fabled wine’ failed to sell at Danish auction house Bruun Rasmussen.
The St-Emilion lot, which was described by the auctioneer as containing ‘one of the most legendary and coveted wines in the world’, had been valued at between 300,000DKK (£33,198) and 400,000DKK (£44,264).
The Danish lot came from a collection assembled over several decades and stored in ‘a natural Scandinavian cellar with high humidity’.
Bordeaux’s extremely hot 1947 vintage was a famed ‘accident of nature’, according to director of Cheval Blanc Pierre Lurton. Stephen Brook described the resulting atypical Cheval Blanc in Decanter as ‘rich and Porty, high in alcohol and volatile acidity’.
According to Bruun Rasmussen, auction house Christies sold a single bottle of 1947 Cheval Blanc in London for around $15,111 in June, following on from a pair of bottles changing hands for $16,605 (£13,018) at Heritage Auctions in the United States in February.
Tom Harrow, co-founder of fine wine merchant Honest Grapes, pointed out that single bottles of 1947 Cheval Blanc are on sale online for less than £4,000, compared to the equivalent of £4,150 to £5,533 in the Danish lot.
‘Looking at the images, levels for at least half of the bottles vary from low shoulder to almost a one-fifth lost – I can imagine individual bottles with higher levels hitting the estimate if sold in single bottle lots, but I can’t see many collectors wanting to shell out for the lot, given the variations,’ he said.
‘It appears these are not from the same case – different importer and strip labels will often be a red flag to potential buyers.
‘Also, 1947 was renowned for making an almost port-like Cheval and the US labels are at 12% alcohol by volume – this might further deter buyers expecting a much richer wine.’
Harrow added: ‘It’s hard to tell if this is an example of general Bordeaux malaise – although that is certainly a major issue currently with recent vintages failing to hold value.
‘Older Bordeaux – in good condition and with good provenance – is in fact exactly where collectors are turning currently.’
Speaking before the auction, Thomas Rosendahl Andersen – head of department at Bruun Rasmussen – said: ‘Château Cheval Blanc 1947 exemplifies a wine that has achieved almost cult status among collectors.
‘Representing a singular period in the viticultural history of Bordeaux, the wine’s craftsmanship cannot be reproduced.
‘As the vintage was produced over 70 years ago, there are very few bottles left, making it extremely rare.’
Other wines from Bordeaux fared better at the sale, with a lot consisting of three half bottles of 1986 Château La Mission Haut Brion selling for 3,200DKK (£354), smashing through its pre-sale estimate of between 1,800DKK (£200) and 2,400DKK (£266).
Among the sweet Sauternes, a bottle of 1976 Château d’Yquem changed hands for 3,600DKK (£398), beating its pre-sale estimate of between 2,600DKK (£288) and 3,400DKK (£376), while a bottle of 2005 Château d’Yquem fetched 3,000DKK (£332) against a pre-sale estimate in the range of 2,000DKK (£221) to 2,600DKK (£288).
