Second-Biggest Wine Sale in U.S. History, Including Bottles From the 1920s, Fetches $9.3 Million

With 98% of its 466 lots sold, the auction, titled A Monumental Cellar, overtook the second spot in U.S. history, which was held by The Don Stott Cellar, which achieved US$8.4 million in 2015. The highest-grossing U.S. wine sale remains the Wines from the Cellar of William I. Koch, which brought in US$21.8 million at Sotheby’s in 2016.

“This exceptional result is a testament to the unrivaled quality of the wine and clarity of the collector’s vision, setting the foundation for a successful fall season at Sotheby’s,” says Nick Pegna, who was appointed as Sotheby’s global head of Wine & Spirits in June.

While the big game hunters of the wine world would have been attracted to the collection’s offerings from Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Champagne, a singular producer stood apart in terms of both depth and volume: Bordeaux’s iconic Château Pétrus. Highlighted by two bottles from 1924, a total of 135 Pétrus lots were included in the auction, with vintages from 1924–2015 and formats ranging from bottle to the six-liter imperial.

This collection stood apart due to the caliber of its benchmark wines, both deep in vintage and broad in scope, as well as its exceptional assortment of bottle formats, according to Sotheby’s Alexandria Cubbage, head of major collections in Sotheby’s wine department, Americas.

“When I first walked into this Monumental Cellar in May of 2022, I was immediately struck by the sheer volume of Pétrus in this collection,” Cubbage said in the auction notes. “Two rooms in the cellar were filled solely with Pétrus and stacks of wooden cases formed its far wall. I marveled at the sight. … This sale represents one of the greatest offerings of Pétrus I’ve ever encountered.”

Vintages of the storied Merlot-based Bordeaux dated to 1924. The highest-selling Petrus lot included 12 bottles of the 1961, which fetched US$118,750, just below its high estimate of US$120,000.

Overall, one of the most prized names in Burgundy accounted for the two highest-priced lots of the whole sale, as five magnums of Romanée Conti 1999 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti— estimated to sell for between US$260,000 and US$350,000—sold for US$275,000, while a six-liter bottle of DRC—with an estimate between US$240,000 and US$320,000—sold for US$200,000.

The noteworthy concentration of large format bottles—which included three-liter jeroboams of Dom Pérignon, double magnums of Screaming Eagle, and imperials of 1982 Bordeaux by the dozen—reflected the efforts undergone in sourcing such rarities as well as the collector’s penchant for sharing his wines with others.

Before the auction, the wines in this collection had been stored in two private, purpose-built residential cellars located in Mexico, each equipped with an alarm system to alert of any fluctuations in temperature or humidity. The bottles were inspected by Sotheby’s wine specialists, along with an expert consultant in rare Bordeaux and Burgundy, and were then cataloged, packed and transported directly to the auctioneer’s warehouse in New Jersey.

Most of the wines had previously been purchased by the collector in the U.S. from retailers and auction houses, including bottles from the Khoury Collection and the Steven Verlin Collection, and were then imported into Mexico under temperature-controlled conditions.

Year to date, Sotheby’s Wine & Spirits has achieved US$30 million in U.S. sales, marking a 25% increase year over year.