Following its debut in Hong Kong earlier this year, Sotheby’s Nightcap is heading stateside. The global wine and spirits festival will make its New York debut from September 17–19, bringing together collecting, connoisseurship, gastronomy, and a frankly impressive amount of very expensive liquid under one roof at Sotheby’s global headquarters, The Breuer.
Now, Sotheby’s already has a very successful wine and spirits auction business, so why does it need a festival around it? “Because collecting is ultimately about much more than the transaction,” Nick Pegna, Sotheby’s global head of wine & spirits tells Elite Traveler. “An auction gives you the opportunity to acquire something exceptional; the festival allows you to experience the culture around it: to taste, learn, meet producers and other collectors, and understand why a particular bottle matters. We wanted NIGHTCAP to create that sense of discovery and community, and to bring wine and spirits into the broader cultural conversation alongside art, design, food and hospitality, within our magnificent home at the Breuer.”
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Designed to appeal to both seasoned collectors and a new generation of enthusiasts, the three-day festival will combine educational tastings, collector dinners, and headline-making auctions. And if the numbers are anything to go by, there’s an increasingly youthful appetite for the finer things in a bottle: US buyers currently account for 31 percent of Sotheby’s wine and spirits auction purchases, while 51 percent of bidders are now under 50.
Pegna says that “younger collectors are approaching the category less as a closed world of established names and more as a form of culture, with an interest in provenance, craftsmanship, history, and the stories behind what they are drinking, including understanding the places they are from. They are also much more willing to explore across categories, whether that means moving from fine wine into whisky or from wine into gastronomy, design and art. That curiosity is incredibly healthy for the market.”
As for the festival’s new location, Pegna says that “New York has always been one of the great collecting capitals of the world, and wine and spirits are very much part of that culture. What makes the city particularly exciting for us is the breadth of its collecting community – from people with decades of experience to a new generation approaching wine and spirits with enormous curiosity.”
So, what lots to expect from the extravaganza? The festival will feature what Sotheby’s describes as the most significant wine and spirits auction series ever assembled in New York, with more than $7m worth of bottles up for grabs.
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One of the headline offerings is The Impeccable Burgundy Collection: Part VI, a single-owner collection spanning more than 600 lots and three centuries of Burgundy’s history. The headliner from the collection is a magnum of 1990 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée-Conti, estimated at $42,000 – $60,000. There’s also a 1865 La Romanée from Bouchard Père & Fils, estimated at $80,000 – $120,000, and acquired directly from the Bouchard cellars.
Of all the wines and spirits being offered, it’s the 1865 La Romanée that Pegna would tell a sophisticated collector not to overlook. “The age alone makes it extraordinary, but what really sets it apart is the provenance, having been acquired directly from the Bouchard cellars. There are very few opportunities to encounter a wine of this age, and it is precisely the sort of bottle that reminds you why provenance and condition matter so much at the highest level of collecting,” he says, “There is an expression that says there are no great older vintages, only great older bottles and this is one of them.”
Those who prefer their collecting experience with less auction-room adrenaline can partake in the Wine & Whisky Tasting. The walk-around tasting will showcase bottles from both heritage and up-and-coming producers including Pol Roger, Vega Sicilia, Château Pichon Comtesse de Lalande, and Louis Roederer.
Details on the full auction schedule and individual sales are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
