FEATURES ARCHIVE

There is nothing like bringing out an impressive, large bottle at a notable celebration or a great occasion. Wine connoisseurs love big bottles for a number of reasons:

• Rarity: Most wineries bottle very few of them

• Better aging potential: Wine is aged through the chemical process of oxidation. There's a small amount of oxygen trapped inside every wine bottle (this empty space is called ullage). A large format bottle has less oxygen relative to the volume of wine, which means that the wine oxidizes more slowly. Slower oxidation means that large-format wine bottles will reach their peak long after 750 milliliter bottles have reached their prime.

• Resistance to temperature fluctuations: The larger volume of liquid in a large-format wine bottle takes longer to warm or cool and is therefore more resistant to potentially damaging temperature fluctuations.

Christie’s Geneva sale of Fine Wines will offer a fabulous selection of Bordeaux in large format from the 1982 to the 2005 vintages. Buyers will be able to purchase more than 500 magnums, 120 doubles magnums, 90 imperials and 10 jeroboams of great Bordeaux.

Highlights include one imperial of Château Lafite-Rothschild 1982 (estimate Sfr. 14,000 – 18,000)and one imperial of Pétrus 1982 (estimate Sfr. 30,000 – 40,000. Among the more recent vintages, rarities include a jeroboam of Pétrus 1990 (estimate Sfr. 16,000 – 22,000), 6 magnums of Château Ausone 2003 (Estimate Sfr. 14,000 – 18,000), and one double magnum of Pétrus 2005 (Estimate Sfr. 10,000 – 15,000). More conservatively-priced wines will be also on offer, such as one double magnum of Château Giscours 2005 (Estimate Sfr. 160 – 240), one double magnum of Château Sociando-Mallet 2005 (Estimate Sfr. 120 – 160) and three magnums of Château Montrose 2005 (Estimation Sfr. 500 – 700).

A superb tasting and dinner featuring great Bordeaux wines in magnum will take place on Sunday, 12 May at Il Lago, the restaurant at Bergues’s hotel. For more information, please contact Michael Ganne at mganne@christies.com or
Tel: +41 (0)22 319 1760.