Christie's begins its auction year 2010 with a sophisticated wine collection

In a press statement, Chris Munro, director of the wine department at Christie's advertises the “Christie's March Fine & Rare Wine Auction”: “We are offering a unique collection of wines from Bordeaux, Burgundy and an extremely remarkable private collection of rare Italian wines with 17 unique vintages of Barolo Monfortino by Giacomo Conterno. The sophisticated Italian wines come from the years 1937 to 1982 with 12 cases from 1955 each, from 1961 and 1971”.

The highlight of “Christie's March Fine & Rare Wine Auction” will also be the wines from the deceased Giacomo Conterno, known worldwide as a traditionalist and who's youngest son is continuing his traditional production methods: In the course of the 20th century, wines like the Barberas and Barolos were produced with no adding and unfiltered in a big wooden keg. Giacomo Conterno's motto was: “My terroir wines do not need a barrique taste”. This is how his Barberas, particularly the Barolos “Cascina Francia” and the legendary “Monfortina Riserva” became known worldwide. The latter is stored in a keg for about 7 years most of the time and is only produced in good years. Centerno's wines are mainly exported to the United States and are extremely rare in Europe.

Part of the European collection also includes big wines, for example magnum, double-magnum and Imperial bottles. According to Christie's, the offered wines are stored professionally and in their best condition. “Particularly the big bottles give the wines a perfect aging, since there is a lot more oxygen getting into the bottle and thus the aging and maturing of the wine is positively supported”, explains Chris Munro. “The best examples are the imperial-sizes Château Yquem 1982, 1983, Château Lafite 1985, Château Cheval Blanc 1970 and Mouton Rothschild 1970.“ (aw.yoopress)