A SENSATIONAL SALE

A public sale of old and fine bottles took place very recently in Pessac, near Bordeaux, at Château Haut-Brion, the centuries-old glory of the Bordeaux vineyard. The vault of a former owner of the Château was “persecuted” there.

Even more than the renowned Burgundies and Champagnes, the liqueur wines and the Eaux-de-Vie of high origin, it is the great wines of Bordeaux which had the honors of these auctions. We saw, among the latter, an imposing choice of bottles, behind the most venerable fagots, sold at sensational prices: 13 “magnums” (2 bottles) of Château Haut-Brion, from 1851 to 1870, were not sold. Were they not paid 125 francs each? and two “imperials” (4 liters 50) from Haut-Brion 1875 and 1878, respectively the tidy sum of 525 francs each, or a little more than 116 francs per liter?...

We see it, noblesse oblige!... On this subject, let us recall that the "terroir of Haubrion has been known since the Middle Ages and that its vineyard, incontestably the oldest in Bordeaux, currently extends over 50 hectares of gravelly hills , admirably exposed. Perfect vinification and a particularly chosen grape variety have developed the natural qualities of the vintage, thus allowing the products of Château Haut-Brion to place themselves at the forefront of the great classified red Bordeaux wines.

Château Haut-Brion which successively belonged, in the past, to the largest. families of Guyenne, notably Ségur, Pontac, Latresne, Fumel, is currently the property of an important Parisian firm: the Société Anonyme de l'Entrepôt de Grenelle.

Let us add, for lovers of old Bordeaux who may be frightened by the prices mentioned above, that we can find in the trade, under infinitely more gentle conditions, bottles of “Haut-Brion”, of lesser age, it is true, than those of the sale reported above, but nevertheless bringing together all the wonderful qualities of this great breed wine. The Administrator of Château Haut-Brion, in Pessac (Gironde) will be happy to give those who ask him all the information allowing them to obtain authentic bottles, from the best years, of this famous vintage.