‘Dedicated anthology’ of SQN to go on sale

Sotheby’s has announced its next New York sale will feature a “dedicated anthology” of over 250 lots from famed Californian producer Sine Qua Non.

The collection belongs to Park B. Smith and will be offered at an auction on 29 September. The sale features 885 lots in total, many of them from great Californian domains such as Colgin, Shafer and Joseph Phelps but the heart of the collection is comprised of SQN, which makes up 287 lots over 1,186 bottles in total.

All of the wines on offer span many decades, back to the early 1990s from Colgin, Araujo, Bryant, Shafer and Joseph Phelps and back to 1975 from Château Montelena.

The SQN collection covers the vintages 1992 to 2015, with all the wines bought from the estate directly upon release.

Over 50% of the bottles on offer are large format too (magnum or larger) and a high proportion received blockbuster ratings (100) from Robert Parker.

Jamie Ritchie, Worldwide Head of Sotheby’s Wine, said: “We are excited to open our auction season in New York with this outstanding sale, which showcases some of California’s greatest wines from the Cellar of Park B. Smith. Sotheby’s Wine has had the privilege of presenting an outstanding range of wines from his internationally renowned cellar beginning in November 2006, and we are honored to be entrusted with this tranche of Californian treasures from his collection.

“In addition to his voracious passion for collecting wines, which he began over 45 years ago, Park B. Smith is a celebrated businessman and restaurateur, as well as a distinguished philanthropist, having made numerous contributions to his alma mater, College of the Holy Cross, and long supported the Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation (MC-LEF). The sale is now open for advanced bidding online, and we look forward to concluding the sale with a live auction that will be streamed on sothebys.com next week.”