Acker Merrall & Condit, one of the world’s premier wine auction houses, announced that it has beat the world auction record for a bottle of champagne, selling a bottle of shipwrecked Veuve Clicquot to an anonymous Singaporean bidder for US$43,630. The landmark sale took place at Mariehamn, Åland, where Acker Merrall auctioned two of the world’s oldest bottles of champagne, salvaged last year from a 19th century shipwreck off the Åland Islands, along with 15 special lots direct from Veuve Cliquot’s cellars.
In an exciting sequence of events, an anonymous Internet bidder from Singapore outbid American phone bidder, Robert A. Rosania, a legendary champagne collector in the auction circle. When asked about the tense battle for both lots of shipwrecked Champagne, Rosania commented enigmatically: “I’ll be back.”
“We are overjoyed by today’s outcome,” said John Kapon, CEO of Acker Merrall & Condit. “To have America and Asia battling it out here in Europe, setting a new world record, is a testament to the globalization of the fine wine market, and this is only the beginning.
“What was equally amazing was the fact that the sale took place in Aland, an incredibly beautiful yet remote region of the world. It just goes to show that the most discerning and passionate collectors will go wherever it takes to acquire the world’s greatest wines.”
