Time to pop the cork in wine auction world?

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In perhaps another sign of a recovering economy, millions of dollars worth of wines and spirits sold at three different auctions in New York over the weekend. At Christie's almost USD 3 million worth of wines and fine spirits went under the hammer, including the 1964 Bowmore Trilogy -- three bottles of single malt Scotch from the distillery on Islay, a Hebridean island off the west coast of Scotland. They fetched USD 21,600.

"I am absolutely delighted with the result," said Andrew Rankin, master blender for Bowmore Whisky, after the sale. "When we first did this, back in 1995, the set sold for USD 150. Now, that set is worth USD 15,000."
To put that return in perspective, the Dow Jones Industrial average closed at 2,544.80 on December 31, 1995. It ended trade on Friday at 10,270.47.

Over at Sotheby's, a selection of wines direct from Bodegas Vega Sicilia, Spain's iconic 145-year-old winery in the north of the country, sold for USD 1.09 million -- nearly triple its pre-sale estimate of USD 350,000.

A collection of magnums for each vintage of Vega Sicilia Unico from 1960 through 1995 sold for USD 102,850 -- five times the pre-sale estimate of USD 20,000. The winner, identified only as a South American collector, was declared after a spirited bidding battle from contenders in the room, on the telephone, and online.

As one collector, who did not wish to be identified, said: "You are paying not only for the wine here; you are paying for the provenance. It's direct from the winery. It doesn't get any better than that."

At Zachy's, spirited bidding continued with collectors paying USD 55,200 for an Imperial (six-liter bottle) of Chateau Lafite Rothschild 1959 and USD 40,800 for a dozen bottles of La Tache Domaine de la Romanee Conti 1990. Domaine de la Romanee-Conti is an estate in Burgundy, France, considered one of the world's greatest wine producers with its wine also among the world's most expensive.

But prices generally have not returned to pre-fall 2008 levels if the weekend's auctions are compared to sales 18 months ago. One winning bidder at Zachy's got a relative bargain when they paid USD 57,600 for six bottles of Hermitage La Chapelle Jaboulet 1961. In November 2007, a dozen bottles of the same vintage sold at a Christie's auction for USD 252,000.

The Liv-Ex 100 Fine Wine Index, the industry's leading bench mark, was up 12.9% for the first 10 months of the year to stand at 234.25 in October. That is up from its January low of 207.42.