Sotheby’s Plans a $7.4 Million Burgundy Auction in New York

Sotheby’s will bring one of its largest Burgundy auctions in recent years to New York in September, when the house presents “The Impeccable Burgundy Collection Part VI,” a single-owner sale expected to fetch between $5.3 million and $7.4 million.

The live auction is scheduled for September 19 at The Breuer, with bidding set to open on August 28. According to Sotheby’s, the sale will include more than 600 lots and marks the sixth offering from the same private collector since the series began in 2023. Previous installments were held in New York and Hong Kong.

At the center of the sale is a deep selection of Burgundy from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, long considered one of the most sought-after producers in the region. Among the headline bottles is a magnum of 1990 Romanée-Conti, estimated at $42,000 to $60,000. Sotheby’s said this latest chapter is the largest and most valuable of the series so far.

The collection reaches well beyond Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and spans three centuries of wine. One of the oldest and most expensive lots is an 1865 La Romanée from Bouchard Père & Fils, estimated at $80,000 to $120,000. Sotheby’s said the bottle was acquired directly from Bouchard’s cellars, a detail likely to matter to bidders in a market where provenance has become central to value.

That emphasis on provenance runs through the entire sale. Sotheby’s said the wines were sourced over decades through importer and distributor allocations, direct purchases from domaines and châteaux, and noted private collections including The Don Stott Cellar, The Cellar of William I. Koch, The Henry Tang Collection, Wines from Joseph Lau and Dr. Ku’s Apothecary Collection. In high-end wine auctions, documented chain of ownership and storage conditions often play as large a role as rarity itself, especially for older Burgundy and Champagne.

The sale also reflects how demand for top Burgundy has remained strong even as buyers have become more selective about condition, format and origin. Sotheby’s described the cellar as built with a focus on rarity, back vintages, large-format bottles and vertical holdings that are seldom seen together at auction.

Among the white Burgundy highlights is an unusual group of jeroboams, a format that rarely appears for top Montrachet. Sotheby’s listed 1985 and 2008 Domaine Ramonet Montrachet jeroboams, 2004 and 2008 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Montrachet jeroboams, and a 2007 Domaine Leflaive Montrachet jeroboam estimated at $42,000 to $60,000. The Leflaive selection in the sale runs from 1992 through 2012 and also includes a magnum of the 2006 vintage.

Large-format bottles have become a major draw in marquee auctions because they are scarcer than standard bottles and often appeal to collectors looking for both rarity and display value. In Burgundy, where production is limited to begin with, formats such as magnums and jeroboams can command sharp premiums when they come from leading estates and arrive with strong provenance.

The red Burgundy section includes several lots aimed at seasoned collectors of mature wines. Sotheby’s highlighted two bottles of 1978 Domaine Dujac Clos St.-Denis from an ex-domaine sale, estimated at $24,000 to $35,000, as well as a six-bottle lot of 1993 Domaine Henri Jayer Echézeaux from what it described as the Private Cellar of Henri Jayer, estimated at $38,000 to $55,000. Jayer remains one of Burgundy’s most revered names, and bottles tied directly to his cellar tend to attract close attention.

Other producers represented in the auction include Domaine Leroy, Domaine des Lambrays, Méo-Camuzet, Cathiard, Rouget, Raveneau and Faiveley. Together they give the sale breadth across both red and white Burgundy and across several generations of producers whose wines have become increasingly difficult to secure on release.

Champagne is another major part of the offering. Sotheby’s said the selection includes a magnum of 2002 Krug Clos d’Ambonnay from a production of only 200 bottles. It also features magnums from Krug Collection in the 1952, 1964, 1969, 1971 and 1973 vintages. Additional Champagne houses in the sale include Dom Pérignon, Salon, Philipponnat and Taittinger.

The inclusion of mature Champagne alongside blue-chip Burgundy points to how top collectors are building cellars across categories rather than focusing on one region alone. Auction houses have increasingly leaned into that crossover demand by grouping rare still wines with prestige cuvées that carry similar scarcity and brand recognition.

Sotheby’s has not identified the consignor publicly but said the owner considers this installment the finest part of the cellar. The house described it as the “crème de la crème” of a collection assembled over many years with strict standards for condition and sourcing.

For Sotheby’s, the sale adds to a run of high-profile single-owner wine auctions that rely on narrative as much as inventory: one collector, one vision and one documented history of acquisition. That formula has proved effective in attracting global bidders who want reassurance about authenticity while competing for bottles that may not return to market for years.

With estimates reaching into six figures for some lots and with more than 600 entries on offer, the September auction is expected to draw interest from established Burgundy buyers in the United States, Asia and Europe. The strongest competition is likely to center on Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, mature Montrachet in large formats and older bottles with direct ties to famous cellars or ex-domaine releases.