Rare Wines Go Under The Hammer With Berry Bros. & Rudd’s First Auction

Dating all the way back to 1698, Berry Bros. & Rudd is the UK’s oldest wine merchant. The family-run business is still trading from its original home at No. 3 St James’s Street in London – but this October, the company is venturing into new territory with its first ever wine auction. 

Berry Bros. & Rudd Launches First Ever Wine Auction

The merchant’s inaugural auction is now live online, offering oenophiles an opportunity to acquire an array of rare and iconic wines. There are over 550 lots from the private cellar of Ian Mill KC, who is widely considered to have one of the greatest collections of Burgundy wines. Assembled with care over many years, his collection includes Burgundy vintages ranging from 1955 to 2020, alongside an impressive offering of white Burgundy from the 1970s to the early 1990s.

The auction includes wines from prestigious vineyards including Armand Rousseau, Georges Roumier, René Engel, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and Domaine Dujac.

‘I am delighted to have been asked to offer a selection of bottles from my collection to support the launch of BB&R’s venture into the wine auction market,’ said Mill. ‘This commercial expansion is obviously a smart move on their part, and I am thrilled to work with their expert team.’

A selection of vintage champagnes are also on offer from houses including Krug, Dom Pérignon, Cédric Bouchard, and some older vintages of Bordeaux.

Berry Bros. & Rudd’s new arm builds on the success of its online fine wine exchange platform, BBX, launched in 2010. Geordie Willis, director of new ventures for the company, said: ‘We are delighted to launch our auction business with a selection of extraordinary wines from Ian Mill’s renowned collection. We have a long-held and close relationship with Ian, and are honoured and delighted that he has entrusted the sale of this part of his collection to us.’

The auction is live now until 6 November at 9am at auctions.bbr.com