The English wine trading house "The Antique Wine Company" with its headquarters in London was founded in 1982 by Stephen Williams. Meanwhile there are 20.000 customers in about 70 countries. The company specialises in exceptional quality wines, often from very old vintages. In the company's own cellars 10,000 bottles of special crescences are stored. Large lots of renowned wines are regularly purchased. For example, in November 2011 top lots at the Hospices de Beaune wine auction. The range of services includes wine trading, auctions of rare wines, special wine events, private master classes, cellar planning (for financially strong people) and various special services such as, for example, the search for very special and expensive wines/vineyards/years by order. A wine bottle authentication service is offered in collaboration with the University of Bordeaux. Using ion beam analysis, the age of the bottle or glass can be determined. This is intended to detect or prevent the manipulations and wine adulterations that occur time and again when selling very expensive and old vintages.
A speciality is the "Grand Château Series" created with the famous furniture designer Viscount David Linley (also chairman of Christie's auction house), consisting of handmade wine cabinets with architectural models of nine renowned Bordeaux châteaux. These are the five elite estates of the 1855 Bordeaux Classification, namely Château Haut-Brion, Château Lafite-Rothschild, Château Latour, Château Margaux and Château Mouton-Rothschild, as well as Château Cheval Blanc, Château La Mission Haut-Brion, Château Pétrus and Château d'Yquem, which also enjoy cult status. These each contain 18 bottles of the best vintages from the 20th and 21st centuries. The cabinets consist of six drawers, one above the other, each containing three bottles and a miniature Château model on top (prices are only available on request). As the most expensive white wine to date, the Antique Wine Company sold a Château d'Yquem from the 1811 vintage to the French wine expert Christian Vanneque in July 2011 for £ 75,000 (€ 85,000). Other important auction houses are Christie's and Sotheby's.
