(Decanter) - Sotheby’s is planning what may become the most lucrative fine wine auction in history, including almost 17,000 bottles worth up to US$26 million – all from the cellar of one collector.

Tran-scend-ent Wines, scheduled for Hong Kong on 29-31 March, will offer 2,704 lots, or 16,889 bottles, from ‘the extensive private cellars’ of an individual dubbed ‘The Transcendent Collector’ by the auction house.

Pre-sale estimates totalling HK$147-206m/US$19-26m make this the highest-estimated wine auction to date, according to Sotheby’s.

The most lucrative completed sale occurred in June last year, when Baghera Wines sold the private cellar of the late Burgundy producer Henri Jayer for US$34.7m, more than double its pre-sale estimate.

Described as ‘the most significant single-owner wine sale ever held’, Tran-scend-ent Wines features more than 250 lots of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti spanning five decades; and more than 80 lots of Maison and Domaine Leroy.

The 600-plus lots of Domaine Coche-Dury potentially exceed the entire stock held by the winery, Sotheby’s said.