Sotheby’s Wine is kicking off its summer auction series with a single-owner collection from the cellar of Lewis Chester.
Set to close for bidding on June 1, the online auction represents only a fraction of one of Europe’s most comprehensive private cellars, curated over decades by Chester. Best known as a fine wine and rare spirits writer, Chester—the founder of the “Oscars of Fine Wine”: The Golden Vines Awards—is a prolific, determined collector.
“Today, my collection is far too big to contemplate consuming it all, although I have been giving it a good crack! Further, I own some incredible wines in large quantities, making perfect sense to let some of these be available for other fine wine lovers to enjoy,” he said in a news release.
With an estimated total value of more than £1 million (US$1.2 million), the 776-lot sale includes 251 lots of Burgundy, including bottles from the great Burgundy domaines—Rousseau, Dujac, Roumier, de Vogüé, Leflaive, Raveneau, and Dauvissat. The wines are being offered without reserve, meaning Lewis is not requiring a minimum price to sell.
Most of the collection was bought when the wines were released to the market—either direct from the respective producers via allocation or from reputable U.K. merchants. Lewis immediately cellared the bottles in professional temperature-controlled storage.
“The extraordinary quality of the wines on offer in this auction will undoubtedly appeal to both new and seasoned collectors, with the no reserve aspect adding an exciting new dimension to the sale,” Gary Owen, head of auction sales, U.K., for Sotheby’s Wine, said in the news release.
As a collector, Chester began by focusing on Bordeaux en primeur, Champagne, and Burgundy, before branching out to acquire top labels from elsewhere in France as well as Tuscany, Piedmont, California, and Australia. (“Provenance has always been of utmost importance to me,” he said.)
Champagne lovers can peruse 91 lots of Krug and Dom Perignon, from the very rare Clos of d’Ambonnay and du Mesnil to P3 vintages and large formats. Another 70 lots encompass the finest cuvees of Vilmart, Philipponnat, and Pol Roger, among others.
The selection also features exceptional wines from Bordeaux—including first-growths Lafite, Latour, and Margaux in addition to wines from the Rhône, the Loire and Mosel Valleys, Piedmont, Tuscany, Switzerland, and California’s Santa Cruz Mountains.
Earlier this year, Sotheby’s Wine announced a new multi-year partnership with The Golden Vines Awards and the Gérard Basset Foundation, both co-founded by Chester. Sotheby’s will conduct the Golden Vines Live Auction, which raises money for the foundation’s work around diversity and inclusivity in the wine, spirits, and hospitality sector.
– Eric Grossman for Barrons
The 2018 Haut-Brion is composed of 49.4% Merlot, 38.7% Cabernet Sauvignon and 11.9% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple in color, the wine needs a lot of swirling before it begins to release a whole complex melody of notes, one at a time to begin: tilled earth, followed by pronounced licorice, then crushed rocks, then the preserved plums. Eventually, it all comes together into a fascinating crescendo of intense crème de cassis, rose oil, wild blueberries and kirsch notes, giving way to quiet, persistent leitmotif scents of cinnamon stick, truffles and redcurrant jelly. The medium to full-bodied palate delivers all this and more, revealing tightly wound black fruit, red berry and exotic spice layers within a solid, wonderfully plush frame and seamless freshness, finishing with epic length and loads of earth and mineral sparks. This is a profound, highly intellectual, multilayered baby, which will require a good 7-8 years to begin to sing its incredible song, then should cellar a further 40 years at least. By way of reference, think 1989 with more restraint and even greater purity. (LPB) 
– Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
Vinum Vine 