S otheby’s Wine NY is pleased to present a sale dedicated to The Pristine Burgundy Collection on 18 June 2020. Amassed over the last 15 years by a knowledgeable collector with a great passion for Champagne and Burgundy, the auction offers over 450 lots purchased directly from Sherry-Lehman Wines – the venerable wine and spirits merchant that has been a New York institution since it was founded in 1934, shortly after the Repeal of Prohibition. Underscoring the sensational quality of this collection, the famed retailer purchased the wines directly from each producer’s appointed agent in New York – as close to purchasing the wines directly from the producers’ cellars as state regulations will allow.
Estimated to realize $3.3/5.5 million, this exceptional collection and sale centers on a spectacular selection of more than 350 lots Burgundy’s greatest producers, including Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Domaine Georges Roumier, Domaine Armand Rousseau, Domaine Leroy, Domaine Dujac and Domaine Jacques Frédéric Mugnier. More than half of the Burgundy comes from three outstanding vintages: 2005, 2009 and 2010; and, it features very rare magnums, jeroboams and methuselahs. Rounding out the June offering are rare Champagnes from both Krug and Dom Perignon, further underscoring this unmissable opportunity for collectors.
Lalou Bize-Leroy is a force to be reckoned with in Burgundy. Brought up in wine, she developed firm principles and equally firm convictions. For her, reducing yields is a religion and biodynamic viticultural methods the route to quality and longevity. No destemming and long vattings add to the almost essence-like intensity of the wines. Their deep, emphatic style is a reflection of the commitment and personality of Lalou Bize-Leroy. These wines hardly seem to age - they stay suspended in time.
Serena Sutcliffe, MW
This aristocratic domaine has marvellous vineyards including nearly seventy per cent of Grand Cru Musigny. The '90s have confirmed the domaine's status as part of Burgundy's patrimony. Meticulous attention to detail and rigorous quality control are left in the capable hands of vineyard manager Eric Bourgogne while François Millet's winemaking is spot-on. It all starts with low yields and adaptability to the conditions of the year, although the proportion of new oak has not been higher than thirty or forty per cent since 1990. It ends with the excellent, classy wines we have been seeing over the last years.
Serena Sutcliffe, MW
When Frédéric Mugnier took over running his domain full time, over twenty years ago, these wines came into their own and all his integrity and intelligence went into making bottles that are the glory of Chambolle. Meticulous care, minimal intervention, but great attention to detail, these all play their part in such joyous expressions of their vineyard sites, with very little new wood and no fining and filtration to bring out the scent, subtlety , laciness of texture and great persistence of Chambolle wines. From 2004, the Nuits St.Georges 1er Cru Clos de la Maréchale came back into his possession and it is a wine I adore, a marvellous illustration of southern Nuits character. The Musigny here could make poets purr, while Les Fuées is a mineral delight.
Serena Sutcliffe, MW
This domain is one of the greatest glories of Burgundy, stunning for its history, vineyard holdings and magical wines. Eric Rousseau has followed in the footsteps of his father, Charles Rousseau, refining viticulture, vinification and élevage, bringing to new heights the extraordinary Grands and Premiers Crus of the domain. The precision and enticing scents and flavours of these wines are show-stopping, taking the amazing raw material and leading it to paradisiacal levels. The wines dance on the palate, while exploiting all the depths that these great plots of vines can give, with everything in balance, including brilliantly judged use of oak – enhancing but never dominating. To compare Chambertin and Clos de Bèze here is the ultimate Burgundian experience – with Clos St.Jacques nipping at their heels.
Serena Sutcliffe, MW
Maison Joseph Drouhin, which is now again owned, as well as run by, Robert Drouhin in combination with his extremely capable and technically trained children, is a highly reputed Beaune négociant, offering wines whose trademark is elegance and finesse, in contrast to the current fashion for extraction and deep colour. Drouhin is also an important domaine proprietor - many people forget how much it owns in Chablis. Combining tradition with new developments, Drouhin is always willing to try fresh techniques if they are improvements. Red wines are fermented in open cuves with floating chapeau, using natural yeasts and long, temperature - controlled macerations. The white grapes are pressed slowly, with the last pressings not used, and fermentation takes place in 228-litre casks. The white and red Beaune Clos des Mouches are flagships, but all are to be highly recommended. The Chablis is influenced by oak and is delicious. The négoce business buys in grapes to turn into wine with the same care it gives of its own domaine. The business only sells AC Bourgogne and has never created a vin de marque.
Serena Sutcliffe, MW
Lalou Bize-Leroy is a force to be reckoned with in Burgundy. Brought up in wine, she developed firm principles and equally firm convictions. For her, reducing yields is a religion and biodynamic viticultural methods the route to quality and longevity. No destemming and long vattings add to the almost essence-like intensity of the wines. Their deep, emphatic style is a reflection of the commitment and personality of Lalou Bize-Leroy. These wines hardly seem to age - they stay suspended in time.
Serena Sutcliffe, MW
Great quality from the start and obviously a keeper. Real tannin and structure but with velvety ripeness. Immensely beautiful with that perfect balance of tannin, fruit and acidity.
Serena Sutcliffe, MW
T
he Domaine, as it is known, is iconic. Much more important, it also produces the most extraordinary wines in Burgundy - and it has been doing so for a long time. The generations responsible for the Domaine change, but the terroir remains. And these are very special vineyard parcels indeed, married to meticulous care and philosophy leading to low yields and healthy, ripe grapes, at whatever cost. From the 1990s, vineyard policy has been organic, with co-owner Aubert de Villaine monitoring everything with his usual attention to detail. Domaine de la Romanée-Conti wines evolve and develop dimensions in a way that resembles a mosaic – points of bouquet and flavor making up a harmonious whole that becomes more beautiful as it unfolds in the glass. Yes, these are hedonistic wines and yes, they are not like any other. The trick is in capturing what these remarkable plots of vines can give and letting them express themselves through minimum intervention and enlightened nurturing.
Please see below for individual vineyard descriptions.
– SERENA SUTCLIFFE, MW
C hristophe Roumier has been at the helm here for nearly 30 years and has followed a route that has led to enormous purity and elegance in his wines, true bottles of grace and the essence of Chambolle. Preferring old vines, strict pruning to green harvesting, yields are always prudent and vinification ‘gentle’, with very judicious use of new wood – the aim is to interpret terroir and bring great fruit to liquid form. Bonnes Mares has real depth and the ability to age for a considerable time, while the tiny quantity of Les Amoureuses enchants with its aromas and the rarity of Musigny is exasperating! The Gevreys, Ruchottes and Charmes, are sold under Christophe’s own label – look out for Ruchottes richness and the lovely ‘eating fruit’ character of the Chambolle Les Cras.
– SERENA SUTCLIFFE, MW
