Over the weekend in New York, more than $4m in wine was sold. At Sotheby’s, the $1.09m for a selection of vintages from Bodegas Vega Sicilia was triple the high estimate for the wine. Reuters explains that one of the things driving the value in that sale was the wine’s provenance straight from the vintner:

A collection of magnums for each vintage of Vega Sicilia Unico from 1960 through 1995 sold for $102,850 — five times the pre-sale estimate of $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’re paying not only for the wine here; you’re paying for the provenance. It’s direct from the winery. It doesn’t get any better than that.”

Time to Pop the Cork in Wine Auction World? (Reuters)