Sotheby’s Is Hosting The Biggest Champagne Auction In History

As part of its ongoing efforts to liquidate Taiwanese billionaire Pierre Chen’s legendary 25,000-bottle wine collection, Sotheby’s is hosting a champagne auction in the coming days — one unlike anything the modern world has seen before.

Set to be staged in Paris later this week, approximately 1,850 “prestige cuvée” wines distributed across 390 lots will be up for grabs: including the finest vintages of Dom Pérignon, Salon, Krug, and Roederer dating as far back as the 1950s, as well as a five-bottle lot of 1971 Salon Le Mesnil.

The presale estimate? In total, it begins at nearly US$1.5 million (AU$2.3 million).

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“Pierre’s cellar is richly stocked with an incredible depth of the most iconic champagnes produced several decades ago,” noted Sotheby’s.

“It’s rare to see such wines, even in small volumes, at auction, let alone for them to make up an entire sale.”

This upcoming sale represents the second in Sotheby’s The Epicurean’s Atlas — a series of five auction events dedicated to offloading Chen’s cellar.

Last November, the first instalment held over two days at Hong Kong’s Mandarin Oriental managed to raise US$16.8 million (AU$25.5 million). The champagne-only portion will be followed up by 348 bottles of Burgundy with a presale estimate beginning at nearly US$1.9 million (AU$2.9 million).

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According to Observer, the current expectation is that the complete haul will generate US$50 million (AU$75 million). In other words, the auction house is on track to sell “the most valuable wine collection to ever come to market” by year’s end.

“We anticipate that there will be a good deal of interest in this sale in Japan,” said Nick Pegna, Sotheby’s Global Head of Wine & Spirits. 

On the off chance anyone reading this has deep enough pockets, you can register your interest to bid at Sotheby’s auction of champagne from Pierre Chen’s wine collection below (or simply window shop).