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Largest wine collection to come to auction to go under the hammer this week
The first tranche of one of the largest wine collections to come to sale is being offered in New York this Thursday.
The inaugural sale in the global auction – named ‘The Colossal Cellar of an Astute Collector’ – will see nearly 70,000 bottles of wine offered across sales in New York and Hong Kong over the next 12 months, making it one of the most extensive wine collections offered at auction. The first sale takes place during the Luxury sales on 5 December in New York.
Richard Young, Sotheby’s head of auction sales, Americas, Wine called it “a thrill” to offer what was “probably the largest and most prestigious collection of wine ever assembled by a North American collector”.
The auction’s “decades-long dedication, marked by visits to Châteaux and Domaines and building strong bonds with key figures in the wine world, has resulted in an extraordinary assembly of some of the most sought-after wines globally,” he said.
As Serena Sutcliffe, Sotheby’s Wine’s honorary chairman notes. The sale includes a “breathtaking” selection of Burgundy, including some of the “most admired domains in the Côte d’Or, where it is often difficult to obtain a ‘foot in the door’, let alone an allocation from these regrettably tiny plots of precious vines”.
It includes an “extraordinary” line-up of Burgundies from Domaine Rousseau that “has to be seen to be believed”, along with wines from Domaine Bruno Clair, DRC, Vogüé, Domaine des Lambrays, de Montille, Dujac, Faiveley, Fourrier, Jean Grivot, Méo-Camuzet, d’Angerville, Sylvain Cathiard, Robert Chevillon, Roumier and Joseph Drouhin. The Bordeaux includes First Growths, Super Seconds and” jewel-like Right Bank properties in gold standard vintages”, Sutcliffe said, including wines that can be approached now and other that can be kept for a few years.
There are also a selection of wines from Ornellaia, Solaia, Sassicaia and Napa Valley.
The collector himself, who remains anonymous said that seeing his cellar, “which represents decades of careful curation and boundless passion” come to life through the sale was “a moment of immense pride”.
“Each bottle holds stories of vineyard visits, deep friendships with winemakers, and the pursuit of excellence that transcends time and place. I am honoured to share this collection with the world, offering a glimpse into a journey marked by a love for fine wine and the people who make it,” he said.
“Wine lovers are often generous, spurred on by the desire to share fabulous drinking experiences with like-minded friends, but when this is paired with real philanthropy, over many decades, it is a tribute to both the person and wine itself,” Sutcliffe concluded. “Combining this with a distinguished career cannot be easy, but here we have this in classic, and perhaps rare, form.”
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