pounds 242,000 for Lloyd-Webber's wine

A former wine waiter at the Dorchester Hotel in Park Lane, London, paid pounds 242,000 last night for a 1,800-bottle "superlot" of wine for his employers in Las Vegas.

Barrie Larvin, who worked at the Dorchester in the late Sixties, is now Master Sommelier of the Rio Suite Hotel and Casino. He flew in from Nevada to attend the pounds 2m Sotheby's auction of prime wine owned by composer Lord Lloyd-Webber.

The superlot was made up from a cross section of wines and included blue chip champagnes, clarets and dessert wines.