Christie's Wine and Spirits Department in the Americas is pleased to present a new Los Angeles auction of singular depth and historic resonance. This sale primarily represents the confluence of three distinguished, California-based cellars: a landmark direct-from-the-winery offering from Stag's Leap Wine Cellars to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the triumph at the 1976 Judgment of Paris, a private collection of the foundational names of Burgundy and Bordeaux, and a deep cellar of the icons of Napa Valley and Champagne. The sale will be open for bidding from 1 to 15 July 2026.
The first collection comes direct from the cellars of Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, offered in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the 1976 Judgment of Paris. One of the true ‘first growths’ of Napa Valley, founded by Warren Winiarski in 1970, SLWC brought international recognition to California winemaking when its 1973 S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon was tasted blind in Paris and placed above Bordeaux's most esteemed Châteaux. At the heart of this offering is a bottle of that very wine, the legendary 1973 S.L.V., presented alongside a near-continuous vertical extending to the present day and a series of remarkable large-format bottlings, among them a 2023 S.L.V. Salmanazar and an additional vertical of magnums. Now wholly owned by Marchesi Antinori, which completed its acquisition of the estate in 2023, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars enters its next chapter with clarity and conviction even as this offering looks back across five historic decades. For the fortunate bidder, this is a truly singular opportunity to acquire decades of vintage SLWC direct from the source.
The Reserve Cellar: An Important Private Collection forms the classical heart of the sale, and its Burgundy is exceptional in both quality and breadth. It is led by a remarkable series of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti – a case of Richebourg 2007, Romanée-Saint-Vivant 2006, Echézeaux read across the 2006 and 2007 vintages in case quantity, alongside bottles of Montrachet 2005 and 2008 and La Tâche 2002 and 2004. Beyond the Domaine, the collection moves through the upper tier of the Côte d'Or: Domaine Leroy, including the 2009 Richebourg and the 2002 Clos de la Roche; Comte Georges de Vogüé's Musigny Vieilles Vignes across the 2006, 2008, and 2011 vintages; Armand Rousseau's Chambertin and Clos de Bèze; Roumier's Les Amoureuses; the Georges Jayer Echézeaux by Emmanuel Rouget; Coche-Dury Corton-Charlemagne; Comte Liger-Belair's Aux Reignots, and more. The collection is matched in Bordeaux by the first growths in depth – Lafite, Latour, Mouton, and Margaux – together with Petrus and Cheval Blanc, and extends to the summit of California with Screaming Eagle, Dalla Valle's Maya, Abreu, and Bryant.
The Legacy Cellar turns to the icons of contemporary Napa Valley, assembled vintage by vintage with admirable patience. Its centerpiece is a remarkably complete vertical of Scarecrow Cabernet Sauvignon, the Rutherford cult production drawn from uniquely old-vine fruit, offered in near-continuous succession across seventeen vintages from 2003 to 2019. Surrounding it is a deep field of the state's most sought-after names, including Dana, Diamond Creek, Ovid, Schrader, Continuum, Spottswoode Levy & McClellan, Kata, and Scarecrow’s Monsieur Étain, together with an unusually extensive run of Mark Aubert’s single-vineyard wines, spanning the Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs from Ritchie, Reuling, UV-SL, and Hyde. The Champagne is a collection in its own right, led by Krug: the Vintage Brut in magnum from 1989 and 1990 and the single-vineyard Clos du Mesnil from both 1988 and 1990. Beside them stand Salon's 1988 and 1995, completing a duo of the region's most revered blanc de blancs.
Bidding opens 1 July and concludes on 15 July. Join us!
