Sir Alex wine sale lands £2.3 millions

Sir Alex Ferguson has pocketed almost £2.3 million by flogging part of his wine collection.

The former Manchester United manager entrusted 5,000 bottles which he said provided a distraction from the “pressures of the game” to Christie’s auction house.

A total of 257 lots were offered at a sale in Hong Kong yesterday and fetched £2,269,065. The auction house was not able to confirm the total number of bottles sold.

The top lot was one Methuselah equivalent to eight bottles of Domaine de la Romanee-Conti Vintage 1997, which realised £94,815. This lot included a card signed “Best Wishes, Alex Ferguson”. The top 10 lots were bought by private Asian buyers.

The second lot in the top 10 consisted of six bottles of Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, Romanee Conti Vintage 1999 the year Sir Alex won the Champions League with Manchester United which went for £85,334.

It included a Manchester United Retro Champions League shirt from 1999. Further sales will take place in London on June 5 and online from June 9 to 23.

Before today’s sale they were expected to raise a total of more than £3 million but the first sale raised well over half that.

Sir Alex, who is known for his good taste in wine, first began collecting in 1991. He has vintages from 1986 the year he became United manager to 2011. When he was in charge at Old Trafford he was said to enjoy a post-match glass with even the fiercest of rivals.

He said: “I am pleased to be working with Christie’s to share one of my life’s pleasures. My interest in wine began during a scouting trip in France and, over time, my enjoyment of discovery and collecting grew.

“The importance of collecting wine was that it served as a distraction and gave me a balance in my life that helped me in dealing with the intensity and demands as the manager of Manchester United.

“In retirement, I now have the time to visit the places and people that will feed my passion, so I felt it made sense to release a large number of the wines I had collected over the years.”

David Elswood, head of wine, Christie’s, said: “A very strong combination of bidding from both wine lovers and fans of Sir Alex Ferguson has resulted in an excellent sale total for today’s auction, particularly for the wines of Domaine de la Romanee-Conti.

“Chinese buyers continued to dominate in this sale and showed great enthusiasm, especially for the rarest wines of Burgundy, combined with some unique signed memorabilia from Sir Alex.”