Paris - Bonhams Cornette de Saint-Cyr is pleased to present an exceptional online sale of stellar vintages from selected European cellars from 14 to 28 March. Comprising 386 lots mainly from three collections, the sale offers many special and rare gems, from Champagne to Burgundy and Bordeaux, including the top lot of the sale, an extremely rare 5L of Chateau Lafleur 1982 that was acquired directly by the current owner ( estimate: €22,000-32,000).

Eloise Rusier, Head of Wine for Continental Europe at Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr in Paris, said: "This upcoming sale offers a curated selection of the best French wines and champagnes that will appeal to all collectors and lovers of fine wine. Three wonderful cellars showcase rare Champagne, Bordeaux and Bourgogne kept in excellent conditions. The bottles are particularly remarkable and are likely to send bidders wild."

The first cellar contains an impressive Champagne collection, gathering iconic Champagne houses and producers, including the best vintages of the past twenty years. Bottles from 2002, 2008 and 2012 - which were critically acclaimed, and still are – of the most famous and sought-after wines of the region such as Krug Vintage, Dom Pérignon Vintage, Bollinger R.D. and La Grande Année, Cristal will be offered, from single bottles to 3L.

Highlight lots are three bottles of Dom Pérignon P2 2004 (estimate: €1,200 - €1,600) and one Krug Clos du Mesnil 2004 (estimate: €900 - €1,200), revealing a generous vintage, marked by beautiful Chardonnays, while Dom Perignon P3 1985 (estimate: €2,200 - €2,800) showcases the great longevity of the cuvée.

The sale also includes very rare, highly collectables cuvées starting with the centenaries Moët & Chandon 1904, 1906, 1914 and 1943. These four wines are true pieces of Champagne history, as they illuminate four outstanding vintages, especially the legendary 1914, considered by some as the vintage of the century (estimate: €5,500-7,000). Specialists have underlined the exceptional levels and golden colour of these four cuvées; as Charles Curtis MW describes in his book Vintage Champagne: 1899 to 2019 , 1904 was "a precocious year, with early flowering and few problems with pests during the growing season. Sunny weather at harvest brought a healthy yield. [...] Exceptional budding and early flowering. Very healthy harvest and extraordinary quality".

Aged 120 years old, this Champagne, one of a series of four Moët & Chandon vintage bottle, is a highly collectible bottle (estimate: €5,500-7,000). Prior to being acquired by a Champagne lover and collector a few years ago, this bottle remained untouched in a Reims' cellar, in perfect conservation conditions. The level is exceptionally good for a Champagne of this age and the golden colour is amazing. 1904 was a marvellous vintage, both in quality and quantity.

This 1906 Champagne is another centenary and highly collectible bottle (estimate: €4,600-6,000). Same comments for the level and the colour. 1906 was a great vintage quality wise but small in quantity, which makes it very exclusive.

This 1914 Champagne contains history within its bubbles. It is well known that during the harvest and after, in the cellar, women took care of all the craftmanship due to the general mobilization of men. The harvests started at the end of September, after the Battle of the Marne, and of the grapes were harvested earlier than they should have, because of the fear the German troops. Charles Curtis MW explains in his book Vintage Champagne: 1899 to 2019 that "the wines a firm acidity that took many years to resolve", making it age-worthy. This 1914 vintage is sometimes described as legendary, not only for its historical meaning, but also for its exceptional quality (estimate: €3,800-5,000).

Charles Curtis MW states in his book Vintage Champagne: 1899 to 2019 that the trade was possible in the region up to 1943, despite the German requisitions that went up to 18 million bottles each year and their payment to the negociants under the market fare. From that year, the German realized that the Resistance was managing to get organized at Moët & Chandon and had their directors arrested. He depicts this vintage as "the best of the war years. It was "a difficult year for an exceptional result... the 1943 wines are very concentrated".

The second section of the sale encompasses Burgundy rarities such as Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 1997 (estimate: €10,500-13,000) and 1998 (estimate: €8,500-11,000) and other cuvées from the domain, as well as a lot of three bottles of Clos de la Roche 2014 from Leroy or aChambertin Clos de Beze from Prieuré Roch.

As for the white Burgundies, Meursault and Puligny-Montrachet are shining with wines coming from the best producers: Domaine d'Auvenay, Coche-Dury or Domaine Roulot.

Last but not least, the ultimate collection showcased in this sale is the perfect cellar of a Bordeaux winegrower who collected wines for the past 30 years. Here is a glimpse of his cellar. Among the rarest lots, the collection boasts wines produced on the left bank of Bordeaux, a vertical collection of the five First Growth from Bordeaux: Château Lafite Rothschild, Château Latour, Château Margaux, Château Haut-Brion, Château Mouton Rothschild as well as wines from the left bank, considered as the most exclusive properties Château Ausone, Château Cheval Blanc and Château Angélus, including vertical as well.

Château Lafleur is a 4,5 hectares property, the gem of Pomerol, located just between Petrus and La Fleur Petrus. The 1982 vintage is considered as one of the legendary vintages of the 20th century. Climate conditions and growing season were close to perfection, producing wines that were able to age gracefully. This rare bottle (estimate: €22,000-32,000) belonged to awine lover and collector who bought wine directly from the property every year. Vintage 1982 is particularly rare as the Robin's sisters ran out of bottles and offered him the 5L instead. This bottle remained with the collector until now, reminding him of memories of friendship and sentimentality, given the enterprises of the Robin's sisters.

Jeannie Cho Lee while tasting right bank wines from the 1982 vintage highlights the battle between Petrus and Château Lafleur: "both trying to out-do the other during the evening. Lafleur was more elegant and linear but alluring in its intense, quiet power".

Other highlights of the sale include:

• Petrus, 2000 (2x 750 ml) (estimate: €6,500-8,500)

• Caisse Collection Duclot 2010 (9x 750ml) (estimate: €7,500-9,500)

• Salon Le Mesnil, Blancs de Blanc, 2004 (2x 750ml) (estimate: €8,000-10,000)

(Press Release)