A New Record for a Bottle of Mouton-Rothschild

A legendary drop in a collector's bottle. This is what Bonhams offered on 10 September at a wine and spirits auction held in Hong Kong. Indeed, a 15-litre bottle (also referred to as a 'nebuchadnezzar') of Château Mouton-Rothschild from the fabulous 2000 vintage sold for HK$1.09 million (£100,000), setting a world record for a Mouton-Rothschild Nebuchadnezzar. It was, according to the auction house, the first time that this iconic bottle was presented to the Asian market.

Every year since 1945, Château Mouton-Rothschild has entrusted the design of the label for their Premier Grand Cru Classé to a renowned artist. The artwork of Cocteau, Braque, Dalí, Chagall, Warhol, Soulages, Bacon, Anish Kapoor and Bernar Venet has graced the label and contributed to an extraordinary collection of wine-inspired designs. In 2000, however, the château deviated from this rule and printed the labels of the Pauillac Premier Cru Classé with an image of the Augsburg ram, for which a work by the Augsburg master silversmith Jakob Schenauer served as a model. The original silver goblet in the shape of a ram is at the Museum of Wine in Art at Château Mouton-Rothschild in Bordeaux.

Château Mouton Rothschild 2000, Pauillac 1er Cru Classé, 1 Nebuchadnezzar (15 liters). Image © Bonhams

In an effort to faithfully reproduce the complexity of the vessel, the château turned to the glass manufacturer BSN, who developed a new technique of relief enamelling in a four-month research project. The sparkling texture of the pattern, which perfectly reflects light, is the result of a complex firing process with gold and enamel.

Only a few copies of the Nebuchadnezzar of Château Mouton-Rothschild 2000 were produced. It is one of the last legendary vintages from Bordeaux, which also has a design that is unique in the history of the château. Daniel Lam, Head of the Department of Wine and Spirits at Bonhams in Asia, said, "We are delighted to set a new auction record the first time we sold this iconic bottle in the Asia market and to an Asian collector. This testifies for the maturity and diversity of the wine market in the region."

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About the author

Laurianne Simonin

Laurianne Simonin is the Managing Editor at Barnebys Magazine. She has been writing for Barnebys French Magazine since 2018. After studying arts and photography, she worked in various cultural enterprises, both in galleries and in the museum sector. With a penchant for discoveries and objects with singular stories, Laurianne has written on a wide range of subjects ranging from archaeology to cinema, but is particularly fond of writing in-depth articles on ceramics, Art Deco and Japanese art. Laurianne is now Editor-in-Chief and oversees the editorial strategy of Barnebys' six language platform.