Sotheby’s selling ‘instant’ cellars for £4,000

Auction house Sotheby’s has started offering ‘instant’ cellar packages in New York and Hong Kong that deliver curated collections to your home from £4,000.

As reported by Bloomberg, the instant cellar collections cost between £4,000 to £20,000 and can be created and delivered to your door within 24 hours.

The service, which launched in June, is part of the auction house’s aim to move beyond hammer sales to offering its customers a broad range of fine wine services, and taps into the current consumer desire for instant gratification.

The instant cellars are formed of 50 to 168 bottles at the top price tier and were launched after repeated requests from clients to curate their cellars for them.

The majority of the wines in the packages are ready-to-drink Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Champagne at a range of price points from standout vintages.

“We put in the time, and the clients do the enjoyable part,” Jamie Ritchie, Sotheby’s worldwide head of wine, told Bloomberg. There is also the added bonus of the assurance of perfect provenance.

The packages include a consultation with a member of the Sotheby’s advisory team, who are developing an inventory management system its members can use, and, If clients desire it, offer advice on buying wine at auction.

Sotheby’s seems to be the only merchant offering tailor-made cellars at the click of a button at the moment, though Berry Bros and BI provide similar services.

Through BBR’s cellar plan, clients pay £100 plus a month into their personal account and have wines cherry picked for them to suit their palate and preferences.

BI (formerly Bordeaux Index) meanwhile, offers a service to owners of multiple homes that will send up to 60 bottles of ready-to-drink wines (costing an average of £200 each) to their next abode with the shipping cost included within the package.