Sotheby’s is planning what may become the most lucrative fine wine auction in history, including almost 17,000 bottles worth up to US$26 million – all from the cellar of one collector.
Tran-scend-ent Wines, scheduled for Hong Kong on 29-31 March, will offer 2,704 lots, or 16,889 bottles, from ‘the extensive private cellars’ of an individual dubbed ‘The Transcendent Collector’ by the auction house.
Pre-sale estimates totalling HK$147-206m/US$19-26m make this the highest-estimated wine auction to date, according to Sotheby’s.
The most lucrative completed sale occurred in June last year, when Baghera Wines sold the private cellar of the late Burgundy producer Henri Jayer for US$34.7m, more than double its pre-sale estimate.
Described as ‘the most significant single-owner wine sale ever held’, Tran-scend-ent Wines features more than 250 lots of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti spanning five decades; and more than 80 lots of Maison and Domaine Leroy.
The 600-plus lots of Domaine Coche-Dury potentially exceed the entire stock held by the winery, Sotheby’s said.
A ‘vast’ collection of Champagne includes the entire range of Dom Pérignon, DP Rosé, DP Oenothèque and DP Oenothèque Rosé, P2 and P3, focusing on vintages from the 1960s and 1970s.
The Rhône is covered by 140 lots of Guigal, including La Landonne, La Mouline and La Turque, while first growth Bordeaux includes Mouton Rothschild 1945, La Mission Haut-Brion 1945 and 1959, Lafite 1961 and Latour 1959.
‘A true pioneer, the Transcendent Collector honed his tastes at an early age, choosing to focus on wines that he loved and appreciated,’ said Sotheby’s.
‘The passion and vision to seek out the very best has culminated in a collection on a scale the like of which has never been seen before.’
