Bill Koch has consigned nearly 7,800 bottles from of his world-renowned wine collection to auction at Christie’s this week, marking one of the greatest single-owner wine auctions in history.
The low estimate is $15 million.
Koch, who became a billionaire after inheriting stock in his family’s Koch industries, stores his collection in a climate-controlled cellar beneath his Palm Beach, Florida, estate. The cellar is a sight to behold in its own right, featuring vaulted stone ceilings, fragments of ancient Roman mosaics and other bespoke elements hand-crafted by European artisans.
“Building — and then drinking — this cellar has been one of my life’s greatest joys,” Koch said in a statement. “But it doesn’t take a a rocket scientist to know there is more down here than I could ever drink, even if I threw a party every night. So, the time has come to let others share in some of the pleasure I’ve taken from it.”
Beyond the highlights, which include some of the most coveted vintages from producers such as Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and Château Haut-Brion, the collection is a prime example of the impact of counterfeit on one of the most exclusive sectors of the collecting world — and the lengths one has gone to stamp it out.
According to Wine Spectator, Koch had spent more than $12 million on his 40,000-bottle cellar by 2005. That included four bottles of the famed “Jefferson Bordeaux,” which had been uncovered in 1985 and said to have been ordered for Thomas Jefferson himself. But Koch soon found issues regarding the provenance of one of the bottles, leading him to sue the seller, as well as Rudy Kurniawan, the subject of the documentary “Sour Grapes.”
Even Christie’s, the same auction house Koch has consigned so much of his collection through, was on the wrong end of one of his lawsuits.
“I do have a history with Christie’s, but I am confident that the old guard is gone, and it’s a new world,” Koch told Wine Spectator. “They have earned my trust. I believe in second chances. I’ve had many in my career, and Christie’s earned the same courtesy.”
As a result of being burned before, Koch believes no collector — especially one with as many valuable bottles in their cellar — has invited as much scrutiny into the authenticity of their bottles.
“Experts have looked at every aspect of these bottles: I’ve sent bottles to châteaus to have them check the paper composition and printing on the labels and to check vintages against their records,” Koch told Wine Spectator. “I’ve had them tested with a nuclear spectrograph to ascertain that their atomic structure matches the historic record.”
Koch previously sold nearly $22 million of wine from his collection at a Sotheby’s auction in 2016.
“This volume of rare wines is simply unmatched,” said Adam Bilbey, Christie’s head of wine and spirits, in a statement.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture.