Ser Kem “First Barrel” from Bhutan Wine Company (All photos: Bonhams)
From now until April 24, Bonhams is conducting the online auction of the Bhutan Wine Company’s debut bottling, offering collectors and connoisseurs the chance to snap up the first wine to ever be produced in the Himalayan kingdom. Moreover, no new wine region in the world has been explored and cultivated in the past 150 years, making this a collecting opportunity that will go down in the oenological annals.
“We believe the creation of a new wine industry in a country that never had vitis vinifera hasn’t been done since New Zealand did it in the early 19th century,” says Mike Juergens of the Bhutan Wine Company. “Bhutan could quite possibly be the last country on the planet that could do it. Consequently, we felt very strongly that the first barrel produced was an important part of global wine history and therefore worthy of attention. I mean, if someone had the first bottle of wine produced in France or America, that bottle would be in a museum for perpetuity. This first barrel should be treated with the respect it deserves. We interviewed multiple corporate partners to help us bring this to the world and ultimately concluded that the Bonhams organisation was the best match for our vision and what we wanted to accomplish.”
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All lots will be offered without reserve and include unique experiences, with estimates ranging from US$4,000 (RM17,727.40) to US$80,000. The top lot in the sale is The Himalayan, the first-ever release of a new large-format bottle, which at 7.57L pays homage to the 7,570m-high Gangkhar Puensum in Bhutan, the highest unclimbed mountain in the world. Available at an estimate of between US$40,000 and US$80,000, this custom-sized bottle is the only one released to the global wine market with the only other being presented to His Majesty Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, the King of Bhutan. The successful bidder will also get to go on a curated trip to Bhutan, which includes cultural and wine-related experiences with the Bhutan Wine Company leadership team. In addition, the buyer will receive priority allocation to the next five Bhutan Wine Company vintages.
Browse the auction here.
This article first appeared on Apr 14, 2025 in The Edge Malaysia.
