A US online auction has witnessed strong performances from fine Burgundy and Bordeaux wine.

Chinese investors again displayed their growing passion for First Growth Bordeaux, snapping up many cases of Chateau Lafite Rothschild, according to the Drinks Business.

However, US bidders focused their attentions on the best examples of Burgundy, helping the sale take more than $3.8 million (£2.3 million).

Undoubtedly the highlight of the event was a bidding war that erupted over two magnums of 1996 Domaine de la Romanee Conti Montrachet, which eventually went for $30,250 (£18,600) - more than twice its pre-sale upper estimate.

"The most intense bidding came over the internet, where we recorded our highest level of sales at 25 per cent, and over the telephone, where our Mandarin-speaking colleagues were invaluable," said Jamie Ritchie, head of Sotheby's Wine in the US.

A collection of fine Bordeaux and Burgundy from the cellar of convicted fraudster Bernard Madoff is to be auctioned in New York later this month.