December Phelps sale highlights

A bottle of Château Lafite 1865 from the private collection of late Napa pioneer Joseph Phelps has sold for US$31,070 (£ 22,775; including 19.5% buyer’s premium) at auction in the US. The wine was recorked at Lafite Rothschild in Pauillac in 1953 and by the château team in San Francisco in 1986, said auction host Hart Davis Hart at the 18-19 December sale.

Among other top lots, 11 bottles of Château Latour, Pauillac 1959 fetched $77,675 (high estimate: $ 45,000), six bottles of Heitz Cellar, Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 1974 sold for $23,900 (high e: $ 10,000), and a 12-bottle case of Phelps Insignia 1978 fetched $ 15,535 (high e: $ 4,500).