One bottle, 40 years old, $180,000: the most exclusive wine auction of the year is about to begin

Wine connoisseurs will get the chance to own part of an incredible collection of wines when billionaire Bill Koch brings it to auction later this month.

For the first time since 2022, famous auction house Christie’s is holding a wine auction and it will see nearly 8,000 bottles from Koch’s private collection put up for sale.

Part of the vastly wealthy Koch family, Bill Koch is an avid collector of wines and noted America’s Cup winner. He is looking to shift part of his incredible collection at a three-day auction event, with 1,500 lots.

At the heart of his collection are Bordeaux and Burgundy, centered around 750 large-format bottles. These include more than 45 jeroboams (3L) and methuselahs (6L) from legendary wine producer Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.

The New York Post reports that the low estimate for the auction is $15 million but experts believe that the total income could top $21 million.

In terms of individual value, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti is responsible for all of the top ten most valuable wines in the collection. The most expensive of all, the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti from 1985, has an estimate of $180,000.

“A Chicago wine dealer brought this bottle to my attention in 1988. He acquired it from Europe,” Koch explained.

“I have loved large-format bottles because they take longer to mature,” he continued. “It has to do with surface space and oxygen. The larger the bottle, the less exposure to oxygen, the better the wine ages. But putting aside my geekiness, this wine is one of the vintages my wife loves to drink. She has great taste. It was an excellent year for Burgundy.”

Another notable part of the collection is a 1929 Château Haut-Brion, currently estimated at $2,000 to $3,000. It’s an iconic name but there is no guarantee about the state of the wine in the near-100-year-old bottle, explained Jhonel Faelnar, beverage director for NA:EUN Hospitality.

“Oftentimes, they can be disappointing in the glass — they are, after all, hundred-year-old bottles of wine,” Faelnar said. “But the anticipation that it might be every bit as amazing as one can hope for fuels every collector’s hopes and folly.”

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