WineInk: Collectables

Often in this column, I talk about what a great wine town Aspen is.

It is easy to rave on about the great wine professionals who work here and the variety of wine festivals and wine dinners that are monthly events in the community. Just this September, we had the announcement of a Michelin Colorado Sommelier of the Year honor for Bosq’s Nick Heileman. There was a wine dinner last week at French Alpine Bistro celebrating the legendary wines of Domaine Jean-Louis Chave hosted by Liz Willette Danneels. And in Snowmass, over 300 wines were poured at the  Snowmass Wine Festival.

And it’s supposed to be off-season.

But there is another layer to this community that makes Aspen such a significant wine town that is a little harder to experience. That is unless you are a part of the community of collectors. It is impossible to say just how much wine there is in Aspen in the wine rooms and cellars of some of the most prominent wine collectors in the world who have properties here. But you can bet it’s an impressive amount.

I was thinking about this the other day as I perused the extraordinarily well researched list of  “The Aspen 80” billionaires produced earlier this year by Aspen Journalism’s Catherine Lutz, Laurine Lassalle, Curtis Wackerle, and Brent Gardner-Smith, which was published in the summer issue of Aspen Sojourner. One can only imagine the wine collections that reside in some of the homes that are owned in this valley.

And it’s not just the billionaires. Or the millionaires. Throughout the valley, there are a number of people, with or without means, who maintain significant collections of wines they love. Some have chilled cellars and wine rooms, while others use simple wine racks or wine fridges to store the bottles that have meaning to them. Of course, there are also many who have the ability to create collections of substance. And be assured that they do.

There are those who not only collect bottles, they collect wineries. An example? How about Lynda and Stewart Resnick, who have been much in the news as of late as they put their Aspen home with the moniker “Little Lake Lodge” up for sale with a $300 million asking price. Through their company, The Wonderful Company, they are the owners of Paso Robles’ JUSTIN Vineyards and Winery, Landmark Wines in Kenwood in Sonoma County, and Napa’s acclaimed cabernet sauvignon producer Lewis Cellars. The Resnicks came in at #28 on the list. I wonder if the $300 million price tag includes a full wine cellar.

And let’s not forget Stanley Kroenke, who resides at #5 on the list of Aspen’s billionaires and owns, according to the Aspen Journalism article, a pair of Red Mountain homes. Kroenke collects a lot of things, including sports teams and real estate. His sports properties, under the Kroenke Sports and Entertainment umbrella, include the Colorado Avalanche of the NHL, the Los Angeles Rams of the NFL, and the NBA’s Denver Nuggets — all of which have won the championships of their respective leagues. And that’s just the top shelf. He is also owner of Arsenal in the Premier League along with various lacrosse and soccer entities.

His winery holdings are equally world-class. They include the Santa Barbara estate, JONATA, and The Hilt winery in the Sta. Rita Hills appellation. Two exceptional wineries on California’s Central Coast. And in Napa, he is the owner of Screaming Eagle Winery and Vineyards, one of the most exclusive cult wine producers on the planet. Prices for the wines for those on the allocation list are in the low four figures. Per bottle.

Oh, and in Burgundy, Kroenke is the proprietor of Bonneau du Martray, one of the Côte de Beaune’s iconic producers. Earlier this month, at the United Kingdom’s State Dinner for President Trump (a teetotaller), King Charles III poured a white burgundy, the Domaine Bonneau de Martray, Corton-Charlemagne, Grand Cru, 2018. Well, the king didn’t actually pour it, but you get the picture. It can be assumed that the Red Mountain properties belonging to Kroenke have some wines fit for a king.

And there are so many more on the list that have ties to wine and spirits. Steve Wynn, #40 on the list, built Wynn Resorts, one of the largest purchasers of wine and spirits on the planet. John Paul DeJoria, #46, the co-founder of hair products company John Paul Mitchell Systems, was once part owner of Patrón Spirits Company before it sold to Bacardi in 2018 for a reported $5.1 billion. Brothers Chris and Jude Reyes, #11 and #12 on the Aspen 80, co-founded The Reyes Beverage Group, the largest beer distributor in the U.S. which is also a major player in wine and spirits. This June, the company locked up new deals with Gallo and Tito’s Vodka for distribution. Forbes estimates their net worth at $13.1 billion as of Sept. 23. Each. More than enough for a cellar full of Barefoot wine.

The number of bottles of fine wine in Aspen did take a hit this summer when one of the largest wine collectors in the world parted ways with a big chunk of his wine assets. William Koch, yes, one of the famed Koch brothers and the owner of the Elk Mountain Lodge (listed for sale this year at $125 million), sold his wine collection for $28.8 million.  

Christie’s, the auctioneers, held three days of auctions in New York in June, during which it sold wines “Hailing from his famed cellars in Palm Beach, Cape Cod, and Aspen, Mr. Koch’s world-class collection features classic vintages of Burgundy and Bordeaux, among them 1990 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and 1989 Château Haut-Brion, as well as a depth of verticals ranging from the 1920s to the early aughts.”

There were 1,500 lots for auction, and all sold out. The most expensive purchase was, of course, a Burgundy in a big bottle. “The Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 1999 Romanée-Conti. The Methuselah” brought the hammer down for $275,000. A Methuselah holds six liters of wine or the equivalent of eight bottles.

I’ll bet that leaves a hole in one’s cellar that’s hard to fill.