A dinner and auction for the Birley Wine Club, held at Annabel’s in London last week, raised £52,000 with wines from producers including Pol Roger, Château Mouton Rothschild, Sassicaia and Opus One.
Held on 9 December, proceeds from the auction were donated to The Caring Family Foundation’s Food from the Heart campaign, which will give nutritious meals to children living in poverty in the UK over the Christmas period and into next year.
The auction featured wines from Birley clubs owner Richard Caring’s personal wine collection as well as donations from the families of the wines served on the evening.
Split into three lots, the first, which sold for a total of £27,000, included a magnum of Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill 2002, a double magnum of Château de Beaucastel Hommage à Jacques Perrin 2003, a double magnum of Château Lafite Rothschild 1990, an Imperial of Château Mouton Rothschild 2005 and two 75cl bottles of Château Mouton Rothschild 1999. 
Following the French first lot, the second featured Italian bottles including a double magnum of Sassicaia Tenuta San Guido 2000, a magnum of Sassicaia Tenuta San Guido 2010, one six-bottle (75cl) case of Ornellaia Tenuta Dell’Ornellaia 2014, a magnum of Tiganello 2016, a double magnum of Solaia 2010 and a magnum of Brunello di Montalcino Il Maronnetto Madonna delle Grazie 2015. The second lot sold for £13,000.
The third and final lot featured three different wines (a double magnum of Opus One 2009, one six-bottle (75cl) case of Vega Sicilia Unico 2004, and one tappit hen (210cl) of Graham’s 1977 vintage Port) and sold for £12,000.
The final sale price exceeded the pre-auction estimate of between £30,000 and £40,000.
The accompanying dinner was hosted by wine writer Tim Atkin MW; Tim Triptree MW, head of wine at Christie’s; and Chris Campbell, CEO of Rothschild Estates International. Served alongside a four-course meal including smoked salmon and caviar, crab salad and bisque, veal ballotine with mushrooms and artichokes, and a chocolate orange and pecan bar were: Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill 2006, Château de Beaucastel Blanc 2018, Sassicaia 2009, Tignanello 2015, Vega Sicilia Unico 2005, Château Mouton Rothschild 2005 and Graham’s Vintage Tawny Port Colheita 1972.
