Would love to get my hands on some of this great collector’s Rhiengau wines - can only guess at the staggering prices they’ll make and what extraordinary vintages too.
Wow, just the highlights are pretty unbelievable, that is if they are the real deal.
Bollinger, Brut R.D. 1961
Bollinger, Brut R.D. 1961
6 magnums per lot
$6000- $9000
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Château Cheval Blanc 1947
Château Cheval Blanc 1947
1 bottle per lot
$8,000 - $14,000
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Château dYquem 1947
Château d’Yquem 1947
1 bottle per lot
$1,000 - $1,500
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Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, L
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Les Gaudichots 1929
1 bottle $6,000-$10,000.
Bet these will sell for quite a bit over the low extimates.
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Won’t be able to see this anymore. Cellartracker has locked this account.
perusing the collection, there are a lot of off years and low fills (even for age) with the Burgundies. Anyone know the reality of his supposedly perfect storage conditions?
Noticed that as well. As someone above noted, much of the cellar had been sold previously? Perhaps these are just the leftovers…especially of the rare French stuff. Still, pretty amazing leftovers.
There were three temperature zones in the cellar. I don’t know about humidity but in Hillsborough that should not be an issue. Sometimes air con sucks the moisture out of the room and that would be bad. This is something they would have figured out around 1975.
I would love to have leftovers like this !
Certainly sounds so from this article that Dennis Foley wrote in 2010:
https://www.undergroundwineletter.com/2010/02/the-cellaring-of-fine-wines/
Jonathan worked on a previous Ichinose sale, but was never physically in the cellar, as far as he can recall, so can’t confirm firsthand.
I noticed the condition notes also, almost every single lot seems to be notated with label conditions and low fills. Why would that be if the cellar conditions were as “perfect” as described in that Foley article? Maybe Christie’s is just particularly conscientious about noting them?
^ This. As alluded by others already, most of the full collection was sold several years back to a single private buyer since they loathed the idea of breaking it apart via auction. The “odds and ends” that remained were meant for personal consumption in their later years, hence the preference for more 375s, odd birth year vintages, and sentimental favorites.
I distinctly remember Ben once mentioning to me (and I’m paraphrasing here), that once you’ve had the privilege of tasting through the great wines from great producers from great vintages enough times, you find more thrill and wonderment experiencing a monumental bottle from a challenging vintage or of seemingly humble pedigree when allowed to mature gracefully.
That said being said, I have a hard time relating to this perspective since I still find it plenty satisfying trying great wines from great producers+vintages! ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
I’ve said all I know about this cellar, but here are a couple of thoughts:
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You’ll find low fills in any cellar on old(er) wines. Even Berns has low fill bottles, and certainly label imperfections. I’d bet there are lots of low fill Latours in the cellar at Chateau Latour. If what’s in this catalog are truly kind of left behind bottles, it’s entirely possible the most pristine were already taken.
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I don’t know the assessment team at Christie’s and I don’t read their catalogs very often so I can’t compare. But it is not uncommon for auction houses to limit condition notes for just this reason - too many will “just look bad.” So they let small things slide.
Reading through this and thinking about all of the amazing cellars that members of this forum must have, I found it interesting to think about what “Amazing” cellars will look like 40-50 years from now. It’s an interesting thought experiment for me. Wine has become such a global “hobby” that there are excellent wines from all over the world. With the growth of good wines some are harder to obtain than they used to be. Obviously the First Growths and such will still likely be the foundation of what is considered to be a great cellar. However it will be interesting in 40-50 years to read what people are saying about the 2001 Napa Cabernets, 2002 Burgudy, 2005 Medoc Bordeauxs, 01-02 Piedmont Borolo and Barbaresos, 01 and 07 German Rieslings, etc. It’s just intriguing to me that if my children and grand children are into wine at that point they will be talking about wines we are buying now as “classic” “great” bottles. That is a major part of the intrigue, beauty, and allure of wine. The wines have a life of their own. They have a past. Often wines are shared with loved ones and friends which creates a relationship and memories with wine. Finally it takes patience and effort to create a great collection to enjoy. I think Dr Ichinose’s cellar and stories from this thread about what a great man he was is a great example of a life well lived with wine. I hope all of the enjoyment that I have had with wine in my short time in wine will be passed on in 50 years as well. I plan on being around in 40-50 years so it will be extremely fascinating to see newer wine drinkers in the future speaking about bottles we are buying right now like we talk about 1961 and 1982 Latours. Just a random thought that Dr Ichinose’s one of a kind cellar ignited in my crazy head. Sorry if this is too off topic. I did not know Dr Ichinose, but I wish I would have had the pleasure of meeting him.
thanks. So it appears he had appropriate temp control. No notation of humidity. And have the bottles been somewhere else for considerable time? Ullage is certainly affected by humidity. I assume he bought on release and was not a significant backfiller. Maybe this collection is just the “dregs,” though many expensive and rare dregs. Bottle appearance would keep me away.
I think the most important factor will be global warming: the logic and style of wine making according to region will probably be very different from what we know today, and our wines will be unique legacies of a lost past.
Let’s hope there will be cellars 40 years from now and humans to open the bottles.
Looks really cool. I will definitely bid on some of the German wines.
A
I dealt with a lot of old Burgundy when I worked at Draper & Esquin. 90% of the fills in the catalogue are typical of what I saw and drank. There were rarely any issues.
Up to you, of course. But you are unlikely ever to find better provenance than this, including ex Chateau. Why do you care about label conditions? Some of the best cellars I’ve seen, with perfectly preserved wine, had label issues. Have you forgotten what real cellars look like, and been seduced by the false narrative of perfect everything? Real cellars are not perfect. Almost no one who builds a collection does so with resale impressions as their paramount concern. People can always find something to criticize.
I don’t speak for this collection, but I see nothing that would turn me off bidding.
If you are looking for a testimony from the congregation, here I am. I’ve had great wines from cold and humid cellars in Burgundy. The label may not be perfect but the wine is.
I think a problem for many California wineries is they store wine in temperature controlled, air conned warehouse. The cork dries out and the game is over. But the label looks dandy. I’ve had really terrific bottles of California wine left in Burgundy by the winemakers. Five or ten years on somebody opens a bottle on a whim and the wine tastes better there than here.
there’s some confusion here. I never mentioned and don’t care about label condition. I didn’t even use the word label in my posts. I don’t like the ullage of many of the bottles and was wondering about provenance. Thats what i meant re bottle appearance—ullage. That’s all.
It’s hard to tell without pictures, but nothing seemed out of line to me. Ullage descriptors aren’t always the most accurate. I’d also want to see the color in addition to the fill level.
One that did catch my eye was a '29 Mouton that was base neck.