A ssembled over some forty years with care, connoisseurship and a keen palate, 25,000 bottles of wine from the revered cellars of Pierre Chen – epicurean and aesthete in equal measure whose collections of both wine and art rank among the greatest in the world – comes to Sotheby’s starting this autumn.

Representing just a fraction of Mr. Chen’s vast collection, the wines – replete with rare bottles and mythical vintages – will be offered in a landmark series of five dedicated sales, each one devoted to a different type of wine or aspect of the collection, and together titled “The Epicurean’s Atlas”.

The first of these, to be staged in Hong Kong at the end of November, will be an auction event unlike any other. While subsequent sales will focus on specific regions or types of wine, the first offering from Mr. Chen’s cellars is designed to give a broader sense of the scope and quality of this truly extraordinary encyclopaedic collection.

In recognition of the global appeal of this auction series, Sotheby’s will be offering free consolidated sea shipment for all buyers after every sale, between the following locations: Hong Kong; New York; London; Singapore; and Bordeaux and Beaune in France.