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Sotheby's and Aulden Cellars have announced the fall wine sales schedule, leading the season with Finest and Rarest Wines, including an important offering from the renowned Stag's Leap Wine Cellars of Napa Valley (September 17, 2005), followed by a single-owner sale of Finest Burgundy and Rh™ne from an Extraordinary Private Cellar (November 5, 2005) and Finest and Rarest Wines (December 3, 2005).

Finest and Rarest Wines

On Saturday, September 17, 2005, the sale of Finest and Rarest Wines will feature a wonderful collection of wines direct from Stag's Leap Wine Cellars which includes many historic wines, including a 1973 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon. On May 24, 1976, a wine tasting took place in Paris that changed the world's view of California wines forever. A blind wine tasting in celebration of the American Bicentennial in Paris resulted in the 1973 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars S.L.V. Cabernet

Sauvignon (Warren Winiarski's first vintage) being judged the best, beating four top-ranked Bordeaux, including two first-growths.

Other selections include Stag's Leap Wine Cellars CASK 23 which has evolved into a Napa icon with vintages from 1978 to 2001 plus vintages from the famed FAY Vineyard. This offering will provide collectors with an opportunity to acquire these wines direct from the winery, many in large format - from magnum (2 bottles) to an enormous Nebuchadnezzar (20 bottles).

After a recent tasting of Stag's Leap Wine Cellars wines in preparation for this auction, Serena Sutcliffe MW, Head of Sotheby's International Wine Department, declared, "Stag's Leap Wine Cellars is the King of Napa, crowned at the famous Judgment of Paris in 1976 and producing majestic wines ever since. CASK 23 is a glossy classic, balanced, fruity, structured and, even more important, deeply satisfying to drink. That is Warren Winiarski's aim - his wines should give optimum pleasure. I can vouch that they do - especially in the large format bottles we have here!"

Also featured is a strong selection of red Bordeaux, highlighted by a case of 1961 Château Latour (est. $15/20,000) and six magnums of 1961 Château La Mission Haut-Brion (est. $15/20,000), as well as 24 half-bottles of 1989 Yquem (est. $3,250/4,250) in an offering of White Bordeaux. Red and White Burgundy are represented by five bottles of 1990 Romanée-Conti (est. $15/22,000) and a case of 1996 Chevalier Montrachet, Domaine Leflaive (est. $6,500/8,500). Selections will also be included from the Rh™ne and Champagne, and rounding out the sale is an offering of Italian and California wines, as well as a selection of Vintage Port.

A Single Owner Sale: Finest Burgundy and Rh™ne from an Extraordinary Private Cellar

On Saturday, November 5th, Sotheby's and Aulden Cellars will be offering in New York the single-owner collection, Finest Burgundy and Rh™ne from an Extraordinary Private Cellar. This spectacular cellar will feature wines from the finest producers in France's Burgundy region as well as the Rh™ne Valley. There will be over 1,100 cases of red and white Burgundy with over 300 cases of Rh™ne wines being offered.

The top Burgundy domaines represented include Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (220 cases), Laurent (94 cases), Leroy (90 cases), de Vogüé (64 cases), Faiveley (55 cases), Ponsot (48 cases), Louis Jadot (35 cases), d'Auvenay (30 cases), Leflaive, Anne Gros, Rousseau, Méo-Camuzet, Lafon, Ramonet, Sauzet, Bouchard, amongst many others. Perhaps the largest attraction of all will be the extraordinary selection of wines from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. With over 1,600 bottles being offered from all of DRC's seven Grand Cru vineyards including 94 magnums, 38 three liter jeroboams and 26 six liter methusalems, spanning over 30 years, it is the most important collection of DRC wines ever to come to auction.

As Serena Sutcliffe MW, Head of Sotheby's International Wine Department says, "The 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 some 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. 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."

The selection of Rh™ne wines is no less impressive with selections from all the top estates in both the North and the South of the region including Jaboulet (107 cases), Guigal (58 cases), Chapoutier (42 cases), Château Rayas, Château de Beaucastel, Pégau, Brunel and Bonneau.

A sale of Finest and Rarest Wines will also take place on December 3, 2005. Further details and information will be forthcoming.

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