Sotheby’s NY to auction 50-year, single owner cellar

One of America’s greatest Burgundy collections is to be offered at auction next month in the highest-value single owner sale staged by Sotheby’s New York in almost a decade.

The sale includes 120 lots from the DRC

Wall Street financier and philanthropist Don Stott spent 50 years putting the collection together, starting with his first visit to France in the early 1960s.

He returned on many occasions to visit top producers and gain access to some of the region’s most rare and sought-after wines.

The Don Stott Cellar: 50 Years of Collecting, to be staged on 8-9 May in New York, includes an array of mature Burgundies spanning more than 50 years, with the top lot a case of Bonnes Mares Domaine Georges Roumier 1971, estimated to fetch 32,500-42,500 US dollars.

The auction house has dubbed it ‘the greatest Burgundy collection ever offered by Sotheby’s New York’, with the sale estimated to fetch a total of up to 6.2m US dollars.

Further highlights include 120 lots from Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, 96 lots from Domaine Armand Rousseau, 128 lots from Domaine Georges Roumier and a range of top German wines.

DRC wines span the years 1929-1991, including Richebourg, Grands Echezeaux, Romanee-St-Vivant, La Tache and Romanee-Conti.

‘The Don Stott cellar is an unrivalled collection of wine, created by someone with a passion that will resonate with all true wine lovers round the world,’ said Serena Sutcliffe MW, international head of Sotheby’s Wine Department.

‘This has to be among the most desirable cellars amassed by anyone, anywhere, born from a devotion to wine that has lasted from the early 1960s.’

Written by Richard Woodard