Taiwan billionaire puts 25,000 wine bottles worth $50 million on auction
By Carl Samson
October 5, 2023
Taiwanese billionaire Pierre Chen is putting up 25,000 wine bottles from his personal collection for auction, the largest wine collection ever offered in one to date.
What’s available: The auction, titled “An Epicurean’s Atlas,” will include some of the rarest bottles from Chen’s vast collection, which he amassed in a span of four decades. Among them are red burgundies from the La Tâche vineyard — a monopole of the iconic Domaine de la Romanée-Conti in France — which include 1985 bottles expected to fetch up to $190,000 each.
About Chen: Chen, currently Taiwan’s 10th richest person — and the world’s 515th — is the founder of top electronics maker Yageo Corporation. He is known for his extensive knowledge and collection of wines, as well as art, which include works from Pablo Picasso, Francis Bacon and Gerhard Richter, to name a few.
What Sotheby’s is saying: Organizer Sotheby’s said Chen’s 25,000 bottles make the largest and most expensive wine collection to ever be offered at auction. “There is currently more wine in his cellars than any one individual could ever hope to drink in a lifetime, but wine is for drinking,” said George Lacey, head of Sotheby’s Wine for Asia, according to CNN.
“This is the ultimate wine collection,” said Nick Pegna, global head of wine and spirits at Sotheby’s, as per the South China Morning Post. “Full of extraordinarily rare bottles and mythical vintages, Mr. Chen’s cellar will capture the imagination not just of existing wine connoisseurs, but of wine lovers and enthusiasts around the world.”
Sotheby’s previously presented “The Art of Living: Legendary Wines from the Cellar of Pierre Chen” in 2021. The auction reportedly hauled in 116 million Hong Kong dollars ($15 million).
Take note: “An Epicurean’s Atlas” will come in five parts. The sales will be spread across one year, beginning in Hong Kong on Nov. 23, and later Paris, Burgundy, New York and London.
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