Jay Stein wine collection set for auction

Wines from the extensive collection of a longtime Rehoboth Beach icon are set to go up for auction.

Bottles from the wine cellar of the late Jay Stein, owner of Stuart Kingston, will be auctioned by Christie’s of New York City at 10 a.m., Friday, Oct. 21.

Hundreds of bottles of rare French wines will be sold as part of the collection, which Stein kept in his own wine cellar, built as an addition to his house.

Stein’s daughter, Mauria, said the family plans to keep 300 bottles as a way to remember its patriarch. Mauria recalled a Christmas party when she and her late brother, JJ, got the key to the wine cellar.

“We went in, we opened it up. We had no idea what to choose, so we took two bottles. We opened the two bottles up - the next day dad comes in, furious. We didn’t even drink the wine, but we did open it. I don’t know what we took, but I know that I had to give him three of my paychecks. And my brother had to write him a check, and JJ wrote at the bottom, ‘Bloody, expensive wine.’ And we never took anything ever again.”

Stein, who died in June 2014, purchased most of the collection from a customer and during his frequent trips to Europe.

“We were going to the countryside and a friend of his really got his juices flowing as far as good wine,” said Stein’s widow, Dian. “When the wine collection became available, he was just thrilled.” Many bottles are vintage French Bordeaux-style wines.

In addition, Stein’s collection includes a number of highly sought-after wines. Dian said the holy grail of the collection is a six-bottle lot of rare Romanee-Conti Burgundy 1978. Romanee-Conti, made in eastern France, is one of the most expensive and rarest wines in the world, she said, noting Christie’s sold a case of 1978 Romanee-Conti in 2013 that went for nearly $500,000. The six-bottle lot Stein owned is expected to fetch $60,000 to $80,000.

“It’s valuable wine,” Dian said. “The taste, the value, the vintage - it’s a very small production. It’s a rare and very valuable vintage.”

Dian said she decided to sell the collection because she no longer had the time to properly maintain it after taking up part-time residence in Florida. Mauria said the wine cellar had to be kept at a particular temperature at all times, a source of constant worry for Dian. Stein’s cellar was specially built in 1991 with wood floors, wood walls and proper insulation, and each wine categorized by style and vineyard.

“I feel like it was a really big responsibility that he left me, taking care of this wine,” Dian said. She said Christie’s was very excited by what they found in the wine cellar, with the auction house paying to pack and move the wines at their own cost.

“It must be a pretty good wine cellar for them to do all that,” Dian said. “Jay was a true Renaissance man. They were his babies. He used to spend lots of time in there to make sure they were lined up correctly. I went in there and froze to death. He went in there and was happy as could be. He just enjoyed his wine.”

Dian said Stein would be proud that a company like Christie’s was interested in his collection. Dian and daughter Anita said Stein would have liked to see his wines sold to those who appreciated fine wine as much as he did.

“His legacy is that he bought it, acquired it and shared it with others while he was alive, and now it will go forward to people that have the same appreciation as he had,” Dian said.

For more information on the Stein collection and bidding information, visit www.christies.com.