Bling And Indeed Bling

Expensive taste was the  order of the day at Bonhams' most successful Sale of Fine Wine to date, at  which a world record price was achieved for a single bottle of champagne. A  Methuselah of Louis Roederer Cristal 1990 fetched a ground-breaking £8,360  on 27 September 2005 at 101 New Bond Street, London. The sale in total  fetched in excess of £400,000.

The Methuselah - which holds six  litres, the equivalent of eight standard bottles - is bottle number 1,333 of  2,000 produced by Roederer to commemorate the millennium, and is one of few  such bottlings that has appreciated significantly in value. It fetched the  highest price ever paid for a single bottle of champagne sold at auction. A  collection of vintage champagne from a private Belgian cellar also attracted  great interest and prices to reflect this; a half case of Dom Perignon 1966  fetched £1,115, and nine bottles of Billecart-Salmon from 1966, 1967 and  1969 sold for £1,320 - some five times the estimate.

The favourite  vintage of one of the world's leading wine experts sold was the sale's top  lot. Robert Parker, famed for his infallible taste and nose, once remarked,  'if I had only one Bordeaux to drink, the 1961 Latour à Pomerol would be at  the top of my list.' A case of this wine, bottled in Belgium by M. G.  Lafitte, sold for £18,480 and a separate lot of six bottles fetched  £9,240.

The continued popularity of fine claret was also reflected by  the prices achieved for several vintages of Pétrus: two bottles of 1964  fetched £1,540; a single bottle of 1966, £528; a dozen bottles of 1971,  £7,150; six bottles of 1989, £4,400, and a dozen bottles of 1996, £3300. A  large private parcel of 1996 First Growth claret also sold well above the  estimate, indicating that the impending changes to pensions - whereupon  holders will be able to lay down wine as an alternative investment - is  already pushing prices upwards. A case of Chateau Lafite-Rothschild fetched  £2,200, Chateau Latour £1,980 and Chateau Margaux £2,090.

Among  reports that port is experiencing a resurgence of popularity among the younger generation, several vintages performed extremely well. A case of Quinta do Noval 1955 fetched £1,320, and 1963 cases of Fonseca and Graham  & Taylor selling for £1,430 and £1,100 respectively.