Get to know the wines of Madeira: from young Buals to old Bastardos

Underneath the Palm Beach mansion belonging to William I. Koch is a wine cellar unlike any other in the United States — and arguably the world. It resembles a climate-controlled cathedral with vaulted stone ceilings. It’s an architectural marvel, echoing the style of an old European cellar, and constructed by a team of artisanal stone masons from Austria who brought over the materials from Europe and assembled the cellar brick by brick. Finished with fragments of ancient Roman mosaics, it’s filled with thousands of bottles of the rarest and most legendary wines in existence, and just as many stories.   

From 12 – 14 June 2025, Christie’s will present a historic three-day sale, The Cellar of William I. Koch, at its Rockefeller Center headquarters, marking the return of Christie’s Wine to New York. Over three days, nearly 8,000 bottles will be offered from Mr. Koch’s cellar, with a combined low estimate of $15,000,000.

‘Mr. Koch is one of a kind — an icon — in the world of wine whose impact on the story of fine wine collecting is profound and lasting. His vision and dedication to building one of the greatest wine collections of our time will leave a legacy for decades to come,’ says Adam Bilbey, Global Head of Christie’s Wine & Spirits. ‘It brings him great joy to share both his story and his wines with a new generation of collectors.’ 

Mr. Koch has spent considerable time in his cellar, perusing and examining, albeit rarely handling, these fabled wines. Arranged by region, producer and then vintage, no detail is left unconsidered. Along the left side are meticulously arranged racks housing the great producers of Burgundy, such as Domaine de la Romanée Conti and Domaine Henri Jayer. Along the right are the classic icons of Bordeaux, including Château Lafite Rothschild, Château Mouton Rothschild, Château Latour and Petrus. At the end of each row are columns of even rarer large formats. And at the very end of the cellar is a locked iron cage containing the scarcest bottles of all — including vintages dating back some 200 years. 

A carved white marble bust of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine (who often draws associations with joy, and the cycle of death and rebirth, as witnessed in the annual regrowth of a vineyard), surveys the underground scene. The collection is testament to what mankind can achieve with the fruit of the vine, and its breadth and depth of iconic wines is unrivalled. 

‘Building — and then drinking — this cellar has been one of my life’s greatest joys,’ says Mr. Koch. ‘But it doesn’t take a genius to know there is more down here than I could ever drink, even if I threw a party every night. So, the time has come to let others share in some of the pleasure I’ve taken from it.’ 

Wine as a way of life 

What does it take to be one of America’s greatest collectors? Some people might say passion, time, knowledge, space and a fortune. Mr. Koch has all of these. But he also has something else that gives him the edge: a tenacious determination to never do things by halves. He can be, as he describes it, ‘a bit compulsive.’ 

Sercial: The Sercial grape grows at the highest altitudes and gives rise to the driest style of Madeira. The grapes ripen late and have high natural acidity, which needs to soften with age — the best Sercials therefore spend a long time in the cask. These tangy wines make a superb aperitif with olives, almonds or light cheeses.

Mr. Koch’s love affair with wine began in the 1960s, when he was studying for a PhD in Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, following in the footsteps of his father, the industrialist Fred C. Koch. 

After college years spent drinking commonplace wine with his fraternity, he started to experiment with ordering more expensive bottles at restaurants. By the following decade he had begun to acquire a moderate selection, but it was in the 1980s, after Mr. Koch sold his stake in the family business and founded his own energy company, Oxbow Carbon, that he cultivated his interest into a deep passion.   

Back then, says Mr. Koch, ‘the price of a nice Petrus, Mouton, Lafite or Latour wasn’t beyond the means of a recent graduate with a relatively modest income.’ With this in mind, he bought as much as he could, reportedly collecting vintage wines like they were baseball cards — always aiming for a complete set. Bill had great foresight,’ adds Bilbey. ‘He was collecting in an era when, with passion, vision and means, it was still possible to acquire significant quantities of the world’s most historic and collectible wines. He was buying large volumes of wines such as Domaine de la Romanée Conti well before it was as widely sought after and recognised as it is today.’ 

Mr. Koch’s collection grew and grew, through patience, conviction and a ‘dash of good fortune.’ And while his upbringing on a Wichita ranch and background in chemistry gave him an understanding of the science of soil, he says collecting is an artform led as much by the heart as the head.  

‘Great wines make you feel special with every sip. You can taste the love, knowledge and toil that the vintner poured into the bottle on their quest for perfection,’ says Mr. Koch. ‘Each one is a time capsule of what happened in this vineyard, in this year.’