Dear friends,

Our Moonlight sale is online and our catalogue is, as we speak, circulating among wine enthusiasts and collectors! 

Just a few days ago I was told by a seasoned collector that “This is absolutely the most beautiful wine catalogue I have seen in 30 years… aesthetically, because it is truly magnificent and the photos showcase the bottles superbly, but also for the content, because I would like to drink ‘almost’ everything!” 

This, in itself, is a great success for the entire Baghera team, who work hard to highlight the greatest winemakers from the 30 wine regions that you will encounter in the 192 lots in this catalogue. Unfortunately we can't include all the wines and winemakers we love in one catalogue, but you have more than you need in order to discover the world of wine with many verticals for the delight of all wine lovers. 

So is this the catalogue of the year…?  What is a fair price for a great bottle of wine at the moment…? I don't know… but I do know that the bottles in this sale have been pampered and lovingly preserved by their owners. Some are extremely rare with perfect preservation conditions for the older vintages that go back as far as 1895, but also some younger and more vigorous wines, to please all palates.

I won't take up any more of your time with a long email, I'll just give you a foretaste of the catalogue below and a few lots that I wouldn't miss… not for anything in the world!

Have a good read, a great thirst and the very best of luck with your auctions!

Cheers,
Michael 

With "Moonlight", Baghera/wines is putting its name to a landmark sale where discovery is the name of the game. Bathed in a metaphorical lunar glow, certain forgotten vintages and others originating from territories worth (re)discovering offer a new perspective for enlightened wine lovers in search of new horizons to explore. Like adventurers in a land of ever-changing attractions, the Baghera/wines teams make use of intelligence and vision to provide a customized immersion into the passion behind wine. 

A subtle symphony of private collections covering a period in winemaking from 1895 to 2019 underpins this new chapter by Baghera/wines designed to nourish the interest of collectors with increasingly sophisticated tastes. Over and above the thrill of the moment, in-house specialist teams pay every attention to detail and are uncompromising when it comes to storage conditions, hygrometry and temperature control. 

Michael and Julie, Baghera/wines’ founders and auctioneers for the sale, comment: "The excitement is palpable. 'Moonlight' is undoubtedly THE wine auction of the year. There are many happy moments in our business, and it was one of these that inspired the title of this physical sale in autumn 2022: it's that sacred instant when we bring out treasures that have been buried for decades. Ideally preserved and pampered, these bottles are the pure reflection of our philosophy, which is focused on extreme quality. We will also rediscover the joy of getting together amid an uncertain economic and geopolitical context. Such times are the spice of life and we expect collectors from all over the world to join us in celebrating the joys of wine in a professional and highly competent setting.” 

Passion can be expressed in a thousand different ways. Whatever the type of collection, each object has a meaning... Pleasure or emotion, desire or inclination, whatever the object of this desire, it has a singular and unique significance for each of us, because it leads us on an intimate quest for enjoyment and sensual pleasure. 

This expectation of fulfilment must undoubtedly echo in every epicurean who reads these lines, resolute wine lovers and gourmets that we are, in the quest to find the right vintage to be paired with the right dish for a perfect match and for a unique occasion. For these exquisite wines will only express themselves once they have emerged from the darkness of the cellar where they have been preserved and pampered... only then will they offer themselves like a mortal creature to fulfil our expectations of fulfilment and our desire for the absolute. 

Socratic wisdom holds that “to live well, one must allow one’s passions all the growth possible, instead of repressing them, and, when they have reached their full strength, be capable of satisfying them by one’s courage and intelligence and of fulfilling all one's desires as they blossom.” Like the Platonic dialogue between Socrates and Callicles, our sale-event on 27 November awaits you with a constellation of vintages to explore, terroirs to delve into, winegrowers to discover, or rediscover, and viticultural journeys to undertake, in keeping with the private collections that have shaped the catalogue for this sale. Contemplate the magnificent landscape that stretches out under the clear white moonlight; admire these excep- tional bottles that we have carefully selected and which carry within them so many moments of eternity, reflections of the hard work of the winegrowers who brought them into being; appreciate these viticultural treasures that have patiently waited in these perfect cellars to be able to finally blossom in the twilight of the day! 

Romain and I have known each other for a very long time. I can discreetly whisper the number, “19”. Nineteen years during which we have been together at auctions, dinners, tastings organised in Geneva, Lausanne, Burgundy… a certain anthology evening at Romain’s house comes to mind. It was in 2018 and we were just a happy few, sitting around a large table enjoying a horizontal of the 1978 vintage (for our 40th birthdays). Hermitage La Chapelle, Rayas, Mouline & Landonne, Monfortino Conterno, Brunello di Montalcino Soldera, Barolo Giacosa, Nuits-St- Georges “Boudots” Charles Noëllat… What a night! 

For Romain is a true enthusiast, a fine connoisseur, an outstanding taster with a genuine curiosity for wines. All wines! From Burgundy to Bordeaux, from Tuscany to California… Thanks to an early passion for great wines, his cellar abounds with treasures, such as I have rarely seen! So it is not without emotion (and gratitude) that the Baghera/wines team has spent the summer preparing the dispersal of part of this cellar, which will be offered to you in two phases this autumn in our rooms at 2 rue Adhémar-Fabri. 

Dear friends, we look forward to seeing you on Sunday 16 October for the Kipling #2 sale livestreamed on          bagherawines. com and then on Sunday 27 November for other treasures of the French, Italian and international vineyards, fresh from Romain’s cellar for your pleasure. 

Julie

As, here in Western Europe, we approach the key period of the harvest, which will lead to the encapsulation of the 2022 vintage for which we are all longing, it is with great pleasure that I unveil, dear fellow collectors and wine aficionados, the second volume of our Kipling series initiated last April. This new format of livestream sales from our Club 1865 by Baghera in Geneva has become a privileged showcase for original collections, rare wines that cannot be found elsewhere on the market, a new opportunity for Baghera/wines to honour passionate, dedicated collectors, talented winemakers and wines that convey emotion through an event that celebrates the exceptional, the outstanding, the singular, the unique...