capsule
checked for breaks, for movement on the neck, and for reworking.
one bottle
a house for fine and rare wine. single bottles bought at auction, verified under raking light, rested ninety days at thirteen degrees, and placed privately with one collector. © 2026.
sales by private treaty · prices on application
domaine de la romanée-conti · romanée-conti grand cru 1993
the cellarfive corridorsten facesone alveolussingle depth
thirty point eight metres by nine point six. five corridors, ten faces. the figures are the as-built record.
an alveolus holds one bottle and no more. the faces are not of equal length, so the count is taken alveolus by alveolus rather than multiplied out.
each face is racked in bays. the bays run the length of the face they are cut into.
one alveolus holds one bottle and nothing else. the racking is single depth throughout the caveau.
nothing is stacked and nothing is stored behind anything else. any bottle can be lifted without moving another.
mægu's own collection · not for sale
no bottle sits behind another.
bottles are bought at auction or from a private cellar, examined under raking light, and offered to one collector.
every bottle is examined under a raking light before it is offered. the beam is taken across the glass at a low angle, one side then the other, so the surface reads rather than the label.
capsule, shoulder, fill, label and glass are each read in turn and written into the condition report, which travels with the bottle.
the shoulder
raked at a low angle, one side then the other, so the surface reads.
fill and label
the level is measured; the label is read in full and checked as original and unbacked.
the glass
turned against the beam for chips, for old repairs, and for the seating of the punt.
krug clos du mesnil 2006krug clos d'ambonnay 2006
resold at auction.
never in the catalogue.
a bottle that fails is resold at auction. it does not enter the catalogue and it never receives the house mark.
the house mark
pressed by hand
the house mark is pressed by hand onto the shoulder. thirty millimetres, cotton rag, numbered to its condition report and entered in a register kept since mmxvii. a bottle that fails a stage never receives it. only bottles that complete all four stages carry the name.
ø 30 mm · cotton rag
photographed on a bottle from mægu's own collection · not for sale
stage 03 · rest
ninety days at thirteen degrees
the room holds 13.0 °C to ±0.2 and 65% humidity to ±3. it is dark at rest: the 2200 K lamps come up for an event and nothing else. nothing is offered until the ninety days are up.
13.0 °C ±0.2 · 65% ±3 · +20 Pa · HEPA and carbon filtered
mægu's own collection · not for sale
the condition record
three of the sixteen: one placed, one reserved, and one of the two now at rest. the offering lists all sixteen.
pauillac
château mouton rothschildplaced
placed with one collector. no cases, no allocations.
vintage: 2004
lot: 01
vosne-romanée
cros parantoux · henri jayerreserved
reserved. the waitlist is kept in the order it was written.
vintage: 1993
lot: 05
the saar
egon müller, le gallais · wiltinger braune kuppat rest
bought at the spring sale, hong kong, june 2026. resting.
vintage: 1979
lot: 15
00
seconds
one bridge lifts one bottle. the caveau runs thirty point eight metres and a request reaches the pass-through in forty-five seconds. the bridge carries one bottle at a time and no more.
the method
the register kept since mmxvii
01
of four
acquisition
bidding in the room and online at the principal fine-wine sales. no bid without a traceable cellar history.
16bottles, bought one at a time
8salerooms
02
of four
verification
what is found is written into the condition report, which travels with the bottle.
5read in turn: capsule, shoulder, fill, label, glass
2scales: shoulder for bordeaux, centimetres for burgundy
03
of four
rest
at rest in the caveau before anything is offered.
90days
13.0 °Cheld to ±0.2
65%humidity, held to ±3
04
of four
placement
offered privately. a written condition report and raking-light photography go with the bottle.
1collector
1bottle · no case, no allocation
01
passed
02
passed
03
passed
04
passed
the method
the register kept since mmxvii
—
not passed
a bottle stops
where it fails.
the stage it failed is written down with the date and the hand that read it. the bottle is not offered, and the stages after it are never begun.
the entry stays in the register
four stages. none optional. applied identically to every lot.
by private treaty to one collector
prices on application. each lot goes to one collector, with its written condition report and its raking-light photography.
the condition report
lot 05 · vosne-romanée
provenance
acquiredbidding in the room, mmxxivsourceone private cellarhistorytraceable, unbrokencasesnone. bought one bottle at a time
the five checks
capsuleno movement on the neckthe shoulderread at a low angle, both sidesfillinto necklabeloriginal, unbackedthe glassno chips, no old repairs
the rest
ninety daysat thirteen degreestemperature13.0 °C, held to ±0.2humidity65%, held to ±3the markpressed on the shoulder, ø 30 mm
one report is written for every lot and it travels with the bottle. it is not a certificate and it is not a grade: it is what was seen, written down, and signed.
the report is numbered to the house mark on the shoulder and entered in a register kept since mmxvii. a bottle that fails a stage never receives either, and never enters the catalogue.
16bottles in the offering, bought one at a time
129 yearsbetween the oldest and the youngest: an 1892 latour, a 2021 sassicaia
one bottle to one collectorno case, no allocation. a written condition report and raking-light photography go with it.
61,872alveoli · one bottle to an alveolus, never two
90days at thirteen degrees before anything is offered
sixteen bottles, bought one at a time and held in a caveau of five corridors and ten faces. the count is taken from the as-built record.
the room, and one bottle out of it
the caveau · 30.80 × 9.60 m · five corridors, ten faces
mægu's own collection · not for sale
six lots, marked and standing
mægu's own collection · not for sale
neither of these is a catalogue lot. both stay in the house.
the second reading
every bottle is read twice. the first sitting is hand i, the second is hand iv, and the second is taken blind to the first.
hands are entered by number and the house does not print names, its own or anyone else's. where the two readings differ, both stand and neither is erased.
| no. | lot | bottle | taken | first sitting hand i |
second sitting hand iv |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| no. 149 | 12 | nacional vintage port 1955 · douro | 9 june 2023 | 41 mm | 42 mm · 1 mm apart |
| no. 154 | 06 | château cheval blanc 1950 · saint-émilion | 15 september 2023 | 41 mm | 42 mm · 1 mm apart |
| no. 157 | 11 | único 1973 · ribera del duero | 3 november 2023 | 41 mm | agrees |
| no. 162 | 04 | monfortino riserva 1990 · barolo | 26 january 2024 | 39 mm | agrees |
| no. 165 | 09 | salon, le mesnil 1999 · champagne | 20 march 2024 | 41 mm | 42 mm · 1 mm apart |
| no. 169 | 02 | château d'yquem 2006 · sauternes | 12 june 2024 | 12 mm | agrees |
| no. 173 | 03 | clos d'ambonnay 2002 · champagne | 27 september 2024 | 41 mm | 42 mm · 1 mm apart |
| no. 177 | 01 | château mouton rothschild 2004 · pauillac | 22 november 2024 | 14 mm | agrees |
| no. 184 | 07 | romanée-conti 2013 · vosne-romanée grand cru | 7 february 2025 | 40 mm | agrees |
| no. 187 | 13 | la tâche 2020 · la tâche grand cru | 4 april 2025 | 43 mm | agrees |
| no. 189 | 10 | sassicaia 2021 · bolgheri | 23 may 2025 | 38 mm | agrees |
| no. 194 | 08 | pétrus 1997 · pomerol | 10 october 2025 | 15 mm | agrees |
| no. 196 | 05 | cros parantoux 1993 · vosne-romanée 1er cru | 15 november 2025 | 38 mm | agrees |
| no. 201 | 14 | château latour 1892 · pauillac | 13 february 2026 | 43 mm | agrees |
| no. 208 | 15 | egon müller, le gallais 1979 · saar | 12 june 2026 | 7 mm | 8 mm · 1 mm apart |
| no. 209 | 16 | château ausone 1954 · saint-émilion | 19 june 2026 | 41 mm | 42 mm · 1 mm apart |
sixteen lots · thirty-two sittings · six that do not agree, each by one millimetre
±2 mm is the tolerance of the method
both readings stand. the register does not average.
written into the six reports where the two sittings differ.
a signature here means one person read the bottle and one other read it again without seeing the first reading. it does not mean the wine is good, and it does not mean the bottle is guaranteed to be what the label says. it means two people looked and wrote down what they saw.
from the note under the signature on every condition report.
212 entries written · 203 marked · 7 failed a stage, never marked · 2 at rest
the caveau
bought at auction · condition reported · ninety days at rest · marked on the shoulder · placed with one collector.
one bottle to an alveolus, never two. nothing is moved for display and nothing is moved for a photograph. a bottle leaves the rack once, when it is placed.
30.80 × 9.60 m · five corridors · ten faces · 61,872 alveoli
the caveau · mægu’s own collection · not for sale
prices on application
enquiries@maeguswine.com
write to the house. every enquiry is answered by a principal. viewings by appointment.
- sales by private treaty. prices on application.
- a written condition report and raking-light photography with every lot.
- title passes on cleared funds. risk on delivery.
- fine-art courier, insured door to door, carried in its resting position.
- every lot warranted authentic without limit of time.
- if a bottle is ever shown otherwise, the full price is returned.
provenance
condition
placement
mægu's wine · © 2026
the current offering is revised as bottles are placed · not a numbered edition
bought at sotheby's, christie's, bonhams, zachys, hart davis hart, baghera/wines, langton's and idealwine. the offering comes from château d'yquem, krug, château cheval blanc, domaine de la romanée-conti, pétrus, tenuta san guido, vega sicilia, quinta do noval, penfolds and egon müller, among others.