Bonhams Brings a 50-Year Wine Collection of 40,000 Bottles to Auction in Hong Kong

Bonhams said it will bring a 50-year private wine collection of more than 40,000 bottles to market in a multi-part auction series beginning in Hong Kong on November 20, with the first sale expected to exceed HK$24 million, or about US$3 million.

The auction house said the collection, called “The Olympus Cellar,” was assembled by a single owner over about half a century and will be dispersed in stages through 2027. The opening sale, “The Olympus Cellar: The Gods,” is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Bonhams Hong Kong in Wan Chai and will offer more than 400 lots focused on rare Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne.

Bonhams did not identify the collector in its announcement. It said the cellar was built around a strict focus on provenance and storage condition, with the bottles kept in a climate-controlled facility. According to the auction house, the collection began in the 1970s after the owner tasted a 1916 Pommard from Château de Pommard and decided to pursue fine wine seriously.

The scale of the cellar places it among the larger single-owner wine collections to reach auction in recent years. Bonhams said the collection includes strong holdings from France, especially Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne and the Rhône Valley, along with wines from Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Australia, New Zealand and the United States.

One of the defining features of the cellar is its Champagne inventory. Bonhams said the collection contains more than 7,000 bottles of Champagne, including releases from Krug, Dom Pérignon, Salon and Jacques Selosse. Many of those bottles were acquired early, the auction house said, helping create what it described as one of the most extensive private Champagne holdings in existence.

The leading estimate in the opening sale is attached to a 1999 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti assortment case of 12 bottles, valued at HK$500,000 to HK$700,000. Other high-value Burgundy lots include a 3-liter bottle of La Tâche 1990, estimated at HK$400,000 to HK$550,000, and a magnum of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 1990, estimated at HK$320,000 to HK$450,000. A 12-bottle case of Domaine Leroy Richebourg 2009 carries the same HK$500,000 to HK$700,000 estimate as the 1999 DRC assortment.

The Bordeaux section includes several bottles and large formats from top estates and highly rated vintages. Bonhams highlighted a 3-liter Château La Mission Haut-Brion 1955 with an estimate of HK$200,000 to HK$280,000. A two-bottle lot of Pétrus 1961 is estimated at HK$90,000 to HK$120,000, while a magnum of the same wine is estimated at HK$180,000 to HK$250,000. Château Lafleur 1982 is estimated at HK$120,000 to HK$170,000 for six standard bottles and HK$200,000 to HK$300,000 for three magnums.

The sale also includes Château Lafite Rothschild from 1959 and 1982 in several bottle sizes, as well as Château Latour 1961. Bonhams said the Bordeaux offering spans first-growth estates and prominent Right Bank producers, with vintages including 1959, 1961, 1982, 1989, 1990 and 2000.

In Champagne, Bonhams is offering a magnum of Dom Pérignon 1961, estimated at HK$20,000 to HK$28,000, and a magnum of Dom Pérignon Rosé 1971, estimated at HK$25,000 to HK$35,000. A magnum of Dom Pérignon Oenothèque 1973 is estimated at HK$30,000 to HK$42,000. One of the more unusual lots is an assortment case containing a magnum of Krug Collection 1962 and a magnum of Krug 1982, signed by Henri Krug. Bonhams said only 40 such sets were released worldwide. It is estimated at HK$75,000 to HK$100,000.

Amayès Aouli, Bonhams’ global head of wine and spirits, said in the announcement that the sale reflects both long-term connoisseurship and the company’s growing position in the high-end wine market. Terrence Tang, the company’s head of wine and spirits for Asia, said Hong Kong was chosen to launch the series because of the city’s role as a major wine hub and because buyers in the region place a strong emphasis on provenance, condition and rarity.

The decision to start the series in Hong Kong underscores the continued importance of Asian demand for top-tier collectible wine, particularly for Burgundy and Champagne, where supply is limited and interest from private buyers remains strong. Large-format bottles and mature vintages with clear ownership histories have been especially sought after in the secondary market, and Bonhams is presenting the sale as a test of that appetite at a time when buyers have become more selective.

The name of the collection is drawn from Mount Olympus, though the auction itself is structured around familiar blue-chip categories rather than a thematic concept. Bonhams said the first chapter, “The Gods,” is intended to present the rarest and most sought-after bottles in the cellar before later sales continue through 2027.

The November 20 sale will take place at Bonhams Hong Kong, 10/F, Six Pacific Place, 50 Queen’s Road East, Wan Chai. Bonhams, founded in 1793, operates in 24 countries and has expanded its wine and spirits business as competition among auction houses for single-owner collections has intensified.