Sotheby’s to auction Fux Restaurant’s wine cellar in HK

Sotheby’s Hong Kong has announced the single-owner sale of wines from the cellar of Austria’s Fux Restaurant, consisting of more than 500 lots of over 3,000 bottles estimated in excess of HK$13.5 million (US$1.7 million), is to take place on 30 September.

The auction will also mark the opening of Sotheby’s Hong Kong autumn sale series for 2017. This is the second single owner sale from a restaurant following the successful sales of the three Michelin-starred el Bulli cellar in 2013 when the restaurant closed down.

An award-winning contemporary restaurant founded in Lech, Austria, in 1998, the Fux Restaurant boasts a wine list of 4,000 different wines with over 55,000 bottles, and was named the best wine list in Austria (2015) by Falstaff magazine.

This outstanding wine collection was assembled by 44-year-old restaurant owner Peter Strolz over the course of the last 20 years, since he founded the restaurant at the age of just 25.

Highlights include some of the greatest names in Burgundy including the full ranges from Domaine de la Romanée Conti (DRC) from its Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru Duvault-Blochet to Romanée-Conti; Armand Rousseau’s most sought-after Chambertin, Clos de Bèze and Clos St Jacques; Musigny, Bonnes Mares and Les Amoureuses from Comte Georges de Vogüé; and Bonnes Mares from Roumier.

These are presented in a wide variety of formats from standard bottle size up to 3-litre Jeroboam. White Burgundies include DRC’s Montrachet, Coche-Dury’s Corton Charlemagne, Domaine Roulot’s wide range of Meursault, Henri Boillot’s and Pierre Yves Colin-Morey’s Batard Montrachet.

Some Italian gems will also go under hammer such as Gaja’s Costa Russi, Darmagi and Sperss in seven vintages between 1990-2003; Masseto available in 15 vintages between 1988 and 2012 from bottle to double magnum; Sassicaia in 13 vintages between 1997 and 2013 from bottle to imperial; and Ornellaia in 19 vintages between 1990-2013 from bottle to double magnum.

In addition, Vega Sicilia Unico in multiple vintages in the 1990s up to double magnum; as well as Champagnes that include a broad range of Jacques Selosse and Krug Clos du Mesnil 1983, 1995 and 1998 will also be on offer.

“I am delighted to be working with Sotheby´s. Their expertise and attention to detail gives me the feeling that these rare gems from my cellar are in good hands. For me, wine is about passion and sharing emotions. After my first meeting with Jamie Ritchie and Adam Bilbey from the Sotheby´s Wine, I found exactly that same spirit,” commented Strolz.

Jamie Ritchie, worldwide head of Sotheby’s Wine, added: “We have offered more than 50 single owner sales from private collectors, but so far only one series from a restaurant: the very successful sales of The el Bulli Cellar in 2013. We are very excited that Fux Restaurant becomes only the second restaurant that has had an entire Sotheby’s auction dedicated to its wines.

“However, there is an important difference between these two sales; while el Bulli had closed its restaurant business and funds from the auction went to Ferran Adrià’s el Bulli Foundation, the Fux Restaurant continues to thrive – this sale represents only a modest thinning out of the collection in order to make room in the Fux cellar for newer vintages”.