Liber Pater auction opens with a single most eye-catching lot: a one-off, 27-liter 2019 bottle estimated at about $765,000 to $1.15 million (originally HK$6 million to HK$9 million), Bonhams Hong Kong said.
Liber Pater auction highlights one-of-a-kind 27-liter bottle
Bonhams Hong Kong will hold “Liber Pater Jubilee: 20 Years of Wine History in Motion” on Nov. 21 at its Wan Chai (a commercial district on Hong Kong Island) saleroom, the auction house said. The sale marks the first ex-domaine auction for Liber Pater, with 20 lots released directly from the estate’s private cellar.
The headline lot is a single 27-liter Liber Pater 2019, a gargantuan bottle produced as a unique piece by the estate. The wine is made from nine local Bordeaux varieties grown on 100 percent franc de pied, the estate said, and the bottle bears the signature of Prince Albert II of Monaco. The estimate for that lot runs from about $765,000 to $1.15 million (originally HK$6 million to HK$9 million).
What makes the wine rare
Liber Pater founder Loic Pasquet started the project in 2005 in the Graves section of Bordeaux, the estate said, with the goal of recreating the flavor profile of late 19th century Bordeaux before the phylloxera crisis. To do that, Liber Pater plants vines on their own roots, a practice known as franc de pied, rather than grafting onto American rootstock.
The estate has also reintroduced near-extinct local varieties such as Castets, Mancin, Pardotte, Tarnay, and Saint-Macaire. According to Liber Pater, the 2015 vintage was the first produced entirely from ungrafted vines.
Small scale, traditional methods
Liber Pater manages a very small property, just 2.5 hectares (about 6.2 acres), planted at high density and farmed for extremely low yields. The estate plows with horses and mules, harvests entirely by hand, and concentrates picking into a three-day window, Liber Pater said.
Winemaking is low intervention: the estate uses native yeasts, adds no extra sulfur dioxide, and in recent vintages has aged wine in large two-handled clay amphorae rather than oak barrels. The result is roughly 500 bottles per vintage when the estate decides a year merits release; since 2006 only 10 vintages have been offered, Liber Pater said.
Other lots and estimates
The auction includes more than the 27-liter bottle. An 18-liter Liber Pater 2011 carries an estimate from about $382,500 to $637,500 (originally HK$3 million to HK$5 million). Seven “Seven Virtues / Seven Sins” collector cases, each containing nine to 13 standard 750 ml bottles spanning Liber Pater 2006 to 2019, the sister label Denarius 2019 to 2020, and Pasquet’s franc de pied conservation bottling Tetradrachm 2021, are estimated from about $127,500 to $191,250 per case (originally HK$1 million to HK$1.5 million).
Bonhams Hong Kong described the sale as Liber Pater’s first ex-domaine auction in the winery’s 20-year history, an event designed to mark two decades of the project and to bring private-cellar stock to collectors.
Why collectors are paying a premium
For collectors, the headline figures will draw attention, but the estate’s methods help explain the pricing. With just 2.5 hectares under vine and production measured in the hundreds of bottles per vintage, scarcity is structural. Liber Pater’s use of ungrafted vines and near-extinct local varieties adds a historical and viticultural rarity that the estate and Bonhams emphasize in marketing the sale.
Bonhams Hong Kong and Liber Pater say winning bidders for the 27-liter lot will receive a package of estate experiences, including a private cellar visit, participation in the annual blending conclave, a private dinner, and an invitation to the Francs de Pied Gala Dinner.
“Collectors are buying more than a bottle,” a Bonhams spokesperson said. “They are buying provenance, exclusive access, and a 20-year experiment in historic Bordeaux viticulture.”
For buyers tracking rare Bordeaux and experimental viticulture, the Liber Pater auction offers a compact but highly specific slate of lots that link scarcity, unique production methods, and estate-hosted experiences in a single sale.
