REDIGAFFI BY TUA RITA AND BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO RISERVA 1955 BIONDI SANTI REACH TOP BIDS AT THE ROMANI & GELARDINI AUCTION. 378 LOTS FOR A TOTAL OF 90,000 EUROS. FRANCE’S CHAMPAGNES ALSO EARN HIGH BIDS PRICES WITH A ROMANEE CONTI 1970 AT 2,600 EUROS

It will be a very festive holiday season for the lucky bidders who took home the six bottles of Brunello Riserva Tenuta Il Greppo (Biondi Santi) 1955 (with recork certificate) and a double magnum of the Super Tuscan Redigaffi by Tua Rita 2000 (which received 100 points from wine guru, Robert Parker) at the Gelardini & Romani Auction (www.grwineauction.com) held recently in Rome. They did, however, have their costs: 3,300 euros for each lot.
The auction, overall, reaped a steep 90,000 euros for its 378 lots of enological gems. Other top lots included an imperial bottle of Sassicaia 1999 by the Marchese Niccolò Incisa della Rocchetta that went for 2,300 euros, six magnums of the 1997 vintage that reached 2,200 euros, and 1,000 euros for 12 bottles of the 2003; 800 euros for an imperial of Tignanello Antinori 2001. Among the Super Tuscans, there was the Masseto from the Tenuta dell’Ornellaia, which received a bid of 1,300 euros for a 1999 double magnum, and 1,200 euros for 3 bottles of 2001 (100 points from Wine Spectator and 6th place ranking on the “Top 100” Wine Spectator classification for 2004).
And there was an embarrassment of choices from France for those who wanted to celebrate the holidays with a bottle of Champagne. The top lot was three bottles of Collection Krug 1985 that was auctioned off for a total of 2,500 euros. There were also six bottles of the classic Dom Perignon Moet Chandon 1964 that went for 1,800 euros. And three bottles of Cristal Roederer 1964 for 1,300 euros. The three magnums of Pol Roger Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill 1996 raked in 800 euros.
French wines also received excellent bids during the auction: Bourgogne did well at 2,600 euros for a bottle of Romanee Conti 1970 and 1,300 for a Richebourg 1998; for the terroir of Bordeaux, 3 bottles of Chateau Latour 2000 (100 points from Wine Spectator) went for 1,800 euros, and a bottle of Chateau d’Yquem 2000 at 1,100 euros. There were also bottles of Clos des Papes (Wine Spectator’s 2007 “World Champion”): 240 euros for a magnum of Clos des Papes 2004 (11th place on Wine Spectator’s “Top 100” 2006 classification).
And there were many other interesting wines at the auction: Amarone (1 imperial), Costasera, Masi, 1997 - 440 euros; Barbera d’Asti (6 bottles), Bricco dell’Uccellone, Braida 2000 - 150 euros; Barbaresco (6 bottles), Gaja, 1964 - 560 euros; Barolo (3 magnums), Mascarello, 1998, 1999, 2000 - 570 euros; Brunello di Montalcino, Cerretalto, Casanova di Neri (6 bottles), 2001 - 700 euros; Cervaro della Sala Antinori (5 bottles), 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 - 130 euros; Chateau Lafite Rothschild (1 magnum), 1998 - 650 euros; Chateau Haut Brion (3 bottles), 2002 - 400 euros; Chateau Margaux (3 bottles), 2002 - 450 euros; Chateauneuf-du-Pape, La Crau, Domaine Vieux Telegraph (1 magnum), 1998 - 200 euros; Cos d’Estournel (3 bottles), 1995 - 320 euros; Cote Rotie, La Mouline, Guigal (3 bottles), 1981 - 650 euro; La Tache Drc (1 bottiglia), 2000 - 700 euro; Luce Frescobaldi - Mondavi (1 imperial), 2001 - 600 euros; Ornellaia, Tenuta dell’Ornellaia (6 bottles), 2001 - 480 euros; Pomerol, Petrus (1 bottles), 1999 - 900 euros; Solaia, Antinori (3 bottles), 1997 - 420 euros; Solengo, Argiano (1 double magnum), 1997 - 500 euros; Turriga, Argiolas (3 bottles),1993,1994, 1995 - 130 euros.
Alfredo Franz