Charlie Trotter To Auction Off Wine Cellar

Those still hankering for a taste of Charlie Trotter's restaurant in Chicago have a bright spot of news this week: the $1 million wine cellar will be auctioned off at Christie's this month. 

Starting Nov. 16, the 4,000-bottle loot will be auctioned off in 700 lots in two separate auctions, reports The Drinks Business. And the bottles in Trotter's haven are pretty special. Eater shares that the majority of the bottles are Burgundy, Bordeaux, and California cabernets, but Reuters reports that it's the size of the bottles — magnums, double magnums, and imperial bottles that could hold up to eight bottles of wine — that makes this collection so unique. Not to mention the gargantuan Nebuchadnezzars, which hold 15 liters of wine, of Chateau Pichon-Longueville and Chateau Lynch-Bages — those are the money-makers. Some of those bottles are so large that they can only be decanted with cradles and cranks. (Imagine that at your next dinner party.) 

Per Holmberg, head of wine for Christie's New York, said in a press release that the auction has "everything that a collector's heart desires." Christie's is expecting the wines to make more than $1 million in sales. First elBulli, now Charlie Trotter's — what restaurant will be next? (Be sure to check out our At the Chef's Table interview with Charlie Trotter above.)