Wine collector Steven Verlin was no food and wine snob; he would match revered wines with low-brow foods, such as Chateau d’Yquem with Krispy Kreme doughnuts, $900 bottles of Vega Sicilia with hot dogs, even a magnum of 1949 Musigny with take-out Chinese.
What Verlin, a New York restaurateur who died last August, had plenty of was good taste, a passion for wine, and the dollars to satisfy both. Just witness the landmark auction this weekend of a part of his collection. Expected sales: $4-6 million. The auction, which takes place Friday and Saturday at Tru restaurant, is the largest named single-cellar wine auction ever organized.
The key is “named,” said Paul Hart, president of Hart Davis Hart Wine Co., which is conducting the sale. There have been bigger single-cellar auctions in the past, he said, but the collectors have remained anonymous. Here, bidders can definitely put the wine to the man and vice-versa.
“It’s about provenance,” he said. “Everyone knew Steve Verlin. He cared so much about his wines.”
Hart, in his auction catalog introduction, described Verlin’s palate as “exceptional.”
“He had a great interest in a broad range of wine regions and regularly traveled the world to seek out new wines,” Hart wrote. “He always focused on quality and condition, and was very often far ahead of his time and the market. The cellar is remarkably deep in so many areas including Rhone, Champagne and Burgundy.”
Verlin was also known for the prime condition of his wine cellars, Hart said. Indeed, Verlin even launched a company to market a temperature-sensing device that would alert would-be buyers to improper storage. And the late New Jersey resident was not only willing to share his prestigious wines with friends and colleagues but even with students in a friend’s introductory wine class.
“He was extremely down-to-earth,” said Grae Verlin, his widow. “He loved wine for the wine.”
Although Grae Verlin said her husband enjoyed modest wines just as much as the stellar bottlings, she said the auction reflects his interest in and understanding of Bordeaux and Burgundy, two of the world’s finest wine regions. Expect to find a lot of famous wine names, such as: Petrus, Cheval Blanc, La Tache, Margaux, Haut-Brion and Rothschild.
Another key component of this auction is due to the Verlins fondness for entertaining. Large-format bottles are in big evidence: 121 imperials (equal to eight standard bottles), 106 jeroboams (six standard bottles), 213 double-magnums (four standard bottles). Big bottles age more slowly, allowing stellar vintages to be savored for decades.
The most expensive single bottle up for sale? An imperial of 1947 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild worth an estimated $40,000 to $60,000. The oldest wine on the block is an 1870 Chateau Lafite-Rothschild. The two-bottle lot has an estimated value of $8,000-$12,000. There are some more affordable wines, too, like a case of 1998 Cantina Falesco Montiano from Italy for an estimated $250 to $380. There are 1,876 lots in the auction.
This weekend’s auction is the second buzz worthy wine sale in as many weeks. On April 21, the Lake Forest-based auctioneer, Edward Roberts International, sold more than $346,000 (including buyer’s commissions) worth of wine. The king of that auction: A jeroboam of 1945 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild sold in conjunction with Sam’s Wines & Spirits. The gavel pounded at $32,000 and the final price was $37,400 with the buyer’s premium. The purchaser was an anonymous Parisian wine collector.
The Verlin collection auction will be a milestone for Hart Davis Hart. The company’s largest auction prior to this generated $3.5 million (including the buyer’s premium) in November 2005. This is also the largest wine auction ever conducted in Chicago, Hart said.
Interest is running high with buyers from around the world, which may explain why the auction catalog is handsomely hard-bound instead of the usual paper cover. (So fetching is the catalog with its glossy color shot of various wine bottles that Scott Tyree, Tru’s wine director, quipped: “It’s wine porn at its best.”)
Those looking for electronic gratification and details on bidding at the auction can do so at hdhwine.com. The action starts at 9 a.m. each day at Tru, 676 N. St. Clair St., but bidders can conduct their business on-line as well.
Still, those who show up at Tru as registered bidders do get to enjoy a buffet luncheon both days if they wish. Cost is $75 per person; contact Hart Davis Hart at 312-573-5597 to reserve a seat. There will be at least one special dish on the luncheon menu.
“Steve loved Orville Redenbacher so that’s what we’re going to have,” Hart said with a chuckle. But don’t expect an ordinary presentation. Verlin, he said, liked his popcorn truffled and served with Krug Champagne.
——–
wdaley@tribune.com
