U.S. businesswoman halves wine collection for $1.7 mln

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - U.S. entrepreneur V. Cheryl Womack made some room in her wine cellar - and about $1.7 million from an auction of half of her wine collection at Sotheby's in New York on Saturday.

The sale of fine and rare wines brought in a grand total of $3.96 million, including $1.7 million for Womack's 4,775 bottles from Bordeaux, Burgundy, California and Australia.

The totals, which included the buyer's premium, exceeded the estimates.

Two cases of 1990 Chateau Petrus fetched $48,400 each and were bought by other Americans.

Two cases of 1998 Petrus were sold for $36,300 each and were bought by UK collectors. Their identities were not disclosed.

In a pre-sale interview Womack, 57, a self-made multi-millionaire, said she was selling half of her wines because: "I'm never going to drink all this stuff and this way I get to put it into the world where somebody else can enjoy it."

(Reporting by Leslie Gevirtz, Editing by Belinda Goldsmith)