Moet 1911 Champagne May Sell for $63,200 at Christie’s

Six bottles of Moet & Chandon 1911 champagne are estimated to fetch as much as 40,000 pounds ($63,200) at a Christie’s International Plc sale in London this month, according to the auction house’s online catalog.

The champagne, labeled Grand Vintage, is part of a series of 200 bottles disgorged in January 2011. Michael Broadbent, founder of Christie’s wine department and a senior consultant to the company, describes 1911 in his book “Vintage Wine” as the best year for Champagne between 1874 and 1921.

The sale comes after the Liv-ex Fine Wine 50 Index rose 3.5 percent last month, its biggest monthly gain for two years, after a drop of 9.7 percent in 2012. January auctions in Hong Kong by Zachys and Acker Merrall & Condit and a sale earlier this month in Chicago by Hart Davis Hart Wine Co. showed that investors and collectors are looking to take advantage of lower prices following market declines in 2012, dealers said.

Other wines in the auction include a case of Chateau Lafite-Rothschild 1982 Bordeaux estimated at as much as 30,000 pounds and 12 bottles of Chateau Petrus 1989 priced at as much as 24,000 pounds.

Also on sale is a bottle of Napoleon Grande Fine Champagne Reserve Vintage 1811 Cognac, badly bin-soiled and with a damaged label, dating from when the emperor’s troops were fighting in Spain and preparing to march on Moscow the following year.

Here is a list of global wine sales scheduled so far this year. Dates may be subject to revision, and links are to auction house sale catalogs and websites.

FEBRUARY:

Feb. 21:        Christie’s, London
Feb. 23:        Acker, Merrall & Condit, New York
Feb. 23:        Sotheby’s, New York
Feb. 27:        Sotheby’s, London

MARCH:

Mar. 1:         Christie’s, New York
Mar. 7/8:       Zachys, New York
Mar. 20:        Sotheby’s, London
Mar. 21:        Christie’s, London
Mar. 22/23:     Acker, Merrall & Condit, Hong Kong
Mar. 23:        Hart Davis Hart, Chicago
Mar. 27:        Acker, Merrall & Condit, New York

APRIL:

Apr. 3:         Sotheby’s, Hong Kong
Apr. 12:        Christie’s, New York
Apr. 17:        Sotheby’s, London
Apr. 23:        Christie’s, Amsterdam
Apr. 26/27:     Sotheby’s, New York
Apr. 27:        Acker, Merrall & Condit, New York

MAY:

May 2:          Christie’s, London
May 11:         Hart Davis Hart, Chicago
May 15:         Sotheby’s, London
May 23:         Bonhams, Hong Kong
May 24:         Christie’s, New York
May 24/25:      Acker, Merrall & Condit, Hong Kong
May 29:         Acker, Merrall & Condit, New York

JUNE:

Jun. 4:         Christie’s, Amsterdam
Jun. 6:         Christie’s, London
Jun. 8:         Sotheby’s, New York
Jun. 12:        Sotheby’s, London
Jun. 29:        Acker, Merrall & Condit, New York
Jun. 29:        Hart Davis Hart, Chicago

SEPTEMBER:

Sept. 7:        Acker, Merrall & Condit, New York
Sept. 21:       Hart Davis Hart, Chicago
Sept. 27/28:    Acker, Merrall & Condit, Hong Kong

OCTOBER:

Oct. 26:        Hart Davis Hart, Chicago

NOVEMBER:

Nov. 20/22:     Bonhams, Hong Kong

DECEMBER:

Dec. 7:         Hart Davis Hart, Chicago

To contact the reporter on the story: Guy Collins in London on guycollins@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Beech at mbeech@bloomberg.net