A phenomenal array of the finest private wine (& spirits) collections
Geneva, 1 December 2022 – On Sunday 27 November, Baghera/wines achieved an excellent result at this eagerly anticipated live auction. Moonlight, a phenomenal array of the finest private wine (& spirits) collections – acclaimed by the wine and spirits community as the “quintessential collection” – the sale drew the most discerning wine collectors to Geneva. There were also several international online bidders. More than 1,500 bottles, magnums, and large-format bottles of near-perfect quality spread over 192 lots, found buyers. The live auction of the season, broadcast from the Beau-Rivage Hotel in Geneva, grossed CHF 2,299,822 /$2,414,813/€ 2,334,319.
The highlight of the sale, lot #16, a vertical of 36 Vega Sicilia “Unico” magnums, was sold to a telephone bidder for CHF 109,800. This unique vertical includes all the vintages marketed in magnums, produced by Vega Sicilia – unanimously acclaimed and recognised as Spain’s most prestigious and emblematic estate. The “Unico” is, as Pablo Álvarez Mezquiriz, CEO of Bodegas Vega Sicilia, likes to describe it: now a tamed wild beast, tender and structured, majestically bearing all the hallmarks of the greatest vintages.
After the sale, Michael Ganne and Julie Carpentier, founders of Baghera/wines and auctioneers, said: “Inspired by a private European collector, Moonlight quickly became known as the quintessential ideal collection. Everyone was able to find meaning in it, starting with lovers of world-renowned French terroirs, through the finest vineyards of Spain, Italy and overseas, to world-renowned Australian and Californian vineyards. This is an eclectic sale that will undoubtedly reflect what will attract collectors in the coming months, and we sense a strong interest in respectable European vineyards, as the bidder for lot 16 rightly realised. Baghera/wines continues to grow, guiding its clients with expertise and discipline, while guaranteeing the provenance and impeccable quality of each of the bottles presented.”
Pablo Álvarez Mezquiriz, CEO of Bodegas Vega Sicilia, added: “Vega Sicilia has been a family business since the 1980s, and our values all converge on two main themes, the first being consistency in product quality as a guarantee for all our vintages. The second more specifically human principle is our dedication to clients. The result for this set of 36 magnums at the Baghera/wines Moonlight sale is a crowning achievement for our ‘Unico’. Previously known as Spain’s greatest wine, it has in recent years joined the very private circle of the world’s greatest wines. »
