A Major Local Wine Collection Goes on Sale

The wine collection of Henry Singleton, founder of Los Angeles’ Teledyne Inc., is the centerpiece of a giant auction in Beverly Hills this weekend.

Held by Zachy’s wine stores and Christie’s auction house, this is being billed as one of the most important wine auctions ever on the West Coast. It will run Friday afternoon and Saturday morning at the auction house at 360 N. Camden Drive. There is a pre-sale tasting at 7 p.m. Thursday. The tasting is $80; the auction is free.

Even if you don’t see yourself dropping thousands of dollars on a case of great wine, the tasting looks like an event that should not be missed. Among the Bordeaux to be sampled: 1926 Montrose, 1945s from Lafite-Rothschild, L’Enclos and Pontet-Canet, ‘59s from Margaux, Mouton, Palmer and Leoville-Las-Cases and ‘61s from Calon-Segur, Latour, Mouton and Saint-Bonnet. Add on to that some of the legendary Dr. Barolet red Burgundies beginning in the mid-’30s and three mid-’60s vintages of La Ta^che, and you’ve got quite a bargain.

The collection of Singleton, who died last year at 82, will be offered in the Saturday morning session. He was an avid collector who had several cellars built beneath his Holmby Hills estate.

“This is the most significant private cellar we have had the privilege of handling in Los Angeles since we started wine auctions on the West Coast,” says Christopher Burr, international head of wine for Christies.

Among the rarities in Singleton’s collection are an 1864 Cha^teau Leoville and 1871 Cha^teau Lafite-Rothschild and Cha^teau Leoville-Las-Cases.

Although those may be the oldest wines offered, they are overshadowed by several more modern bottlings. Those include the highly sought 1945 Cha^teau Latour and 1947 Cha^teau Margaux.

There is also an important selection of Burgundies from the Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, including, magnums of the 1966 Romanee-Conti.

Probably the highlight of the collection is a case of the 1945 Cha^teau Mouton-Rothschild, the famous “Victory” bottling that has been called one of the best wines ever made.

Of course, for lovers of California wine, there is that case of Beaulieu Vineyards “George de la Tour Private Reserve” Cabernet Sauvignon from 1951, which the catalog hails as “one of the greatest and most important wines ever made” in the state.