Auckland Wine Club Cellar Achieves White-Glove Status at Auction
What began as a customs complication became one of New Zealand’s most carefully assembled private wine cellars curated over four decades. Some collections arrive at auction with a story already written—this one closed with a new chapter. Webb's is pleased to confirm that the Cellar of the Auckland Wine Club auction has achieved white-glove sales status: every lot sold.
Over forty years in the making, the Cellar of the Auckland Wine Club
There is a particular kind of collector for whom wine is not a trophy or a financial instrument but a question of timing. The whole enterprise, for this kind of person, is about patience: acquiring bottles with conviction, storing them correctly, and waiting until they are ready to be opened and shared.
John Bergin is that kind of collector, and the cellar he assembled over the past four decades is the evidence.
“There’s a lot of love and care that’s gone into this cellar. It’s been well looked after. But the time has come, and we’ve made the decision to work with Webb’s, to find people that will really appreciate the love, concern, and care, that’s gone into each bottle”, —John Bergin, 2026
Webb’s Fine Wines & Whiskies department regularly auctions single-owner collections, and such was the case with the recent sale of the Cellar of the Auckland Wine Club, a single-owner online auction that achieved a white-glove status: every lot sold. The collection comprised nearly 900 lots spanning New Zealand, Europe, America, and South Africa, and represents one of the most thoughtfully curated private cellars to come to auction in New Zealand.
A white glove auction is a rare and highly successful auction where every single lot offered finds a buyer, also known as a "100% sell-through rate". The story behind the 'white glove' name, is the tradition of presenting the auctioneer a ceremonial pair of white auction gloves at the end of the sale to celebrate such a major achievement. The success of this sale at Webb's is a result that reflects the exceptional quality of the collection and depth of appetite among New Zealand's wine community for cellars assembled with genuine conviction. Likewise, it is a testament of the tenacity, expertise, and acumen of our Fine Wines & Whiskies team.
An Origin Story Unlike Most
The Auckland Wine Club did not begin with a mission statement or a formal membership structure. It began, characteristically, with a border incident.
Following extensive overseas travel in the mid-1980s, Bergin returned to New Zealand with a growing quantity of wines sourced directly from producers and merchants abroad.
As the volume of imported bottles increased, customs authorities advised that a licence would be required to continue. From that practical necessity, the Auckland Wine Club was born.
What had begun as a passion project became a formal collecting enterprise, and over the years it grew into a remarkable cellar of several thousand bottles, many acquired directly from wineries and held in carefully controlled storage conditions for decades.
The Club was founded alongside a group of fellow enthusiasts united by a shared ambition: to access and enjoy wines at the point they were intended to be drunk.
What began informally between friends evolved into a longstanding community centred around tasting, discussion and a genuine commitment to provenance.
WATCH—In this video, John Bergin takes us on a tour of this spectacular wine cellar, including showing a few highlights, and explaining the Club's origin story.
The Collection
The catalogue reflected the breadth and independence of taste that defined the Club’s collecting philosophy. Classic European producers sat alongside wines from regions that rarely appear in traditional New Zealand cellars: South African Pinotage, Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. There were bottles intended for immediate enjoyment and others that continue to reward extended cellaring. Estimates spanned accessible entry points through to highly collectable mature examples.
Several highlights stood out.
From Beaujolais, Côte de Brouilly from François Villard. Rhone is the story, a notable inclusion. Rotating Cote Roti—the family domaine at Aôts, maintaining vineyards on the celebrated Côte Blonde and Côte Brune slopes above Ampuis. The Côte-Rôtie appellation, planted almost exclusively with Syrah (with some Viognier permitted in blends), produces some of the most age-worthy red wines in France, and Rostaing is consistently regarded as among its benchmark producers.
From Hungary, the Royal Tokaj Wine Co. Aszú 5 Puttonyos reflects one of the world’s oldest and most historically significant sweet wine traditions. Tokaj developed one of the world’s earliest vineyard classification systems during the eighteenth century, with classification work beginning in the 1730s, well before Bordeaux’s famous 1855 classification. The Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landscape was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2002. The Royal Tokaj Wine Co. was established in 1990, following the political transition in Hungary, with the specific intention of reviving the region’s grand cru vineyard tradition. Historically, the number of puttonyos reflected the quantity of botrytised grapes used in production and remains a traditional indicator of sweetness and concentration.
Also featured was Terra Sancta’s 2017 ‘Slapjack’ Pinot Noir from Central Otago’s Bannockburn subregion. Bannockburn lies within the rain-shadowed Cromwell Basin in Central Otago and is recognised for producing Pinot Noir of notable concentration and structure. The property’s viticultural history dates to the early 1990s, when Central Otago was still establishing its international reputation, and the Slapjack vineyard takes its name from a historic gold-mining site on the property.
Provenance and Purpose
Throughout the collection, provenance remained central. All bottles were maintained in purpose-built, temperature-controlled cellar conditions, preserving both integrity and drinkability across the breadth of the offering. The care that defined the Club’s collecting was reflected in the condition of the wines themselves.
As the Auckland Wine Club reached the conclusion of its journey, the auction presented a rare opportunity: to acquire wines selected with genuine independence of taste, many of which are seldom encountered in New Zealand auctions, from a cellar maintained with decades of care.
Finn McCabe
Fine Wines & Whiskies Specialist
"We were delighted to bring this collection to auction, and very proud of the results achieved”
—Finn McCabe, Webb's Fine Wines & Whiskies Specialist.
"The Cellar of the Auckland Wine Club reflects decades of thoughtful acquisition and careful stewardship.
It is a collection built around the pleasures of sharing, discussion and discovery, and we are pleased to see that legacy continue with a new generation of collectors and wine lovers”.
Webb’s expresses thanks to John Bergin and the Auckland Wine Club for entrusting this remarkable collection to us. To the new custodians of these bottles: may they be opened at precisely the right moment.
Should you wish to consign an entire cellar or single bottles, please contact our team of specialists for a confidential, complimentary appraisal. From valuation, logistics, marketing to settlement, we handle every detail—keeping the process effortless for you.
We offer a full end‑to‑end auction service designed to honour the care, knowledge, and passion behind every bottle and cellar.
Webb’s Entire Cellar Service
Webb’s Fine Wines & Whiskies department specialises in bringing entire wine cellars and exceptional collections to market: thoughtfully, professionally, and with complete ease for the seller.
From private collectors and long-established cellars to clubs, estates, and lifetime collections, Webb’s offers a full end-to-end auction service designed to honour the care, knowledge, and passion behind every bottle.
“Selling an entire wine collection can feel quite daunting and complex, and our role at Webb’s is really to make that feel simple. We take care of everything, from the initial valuation through to packing, photography, and researching each bottle’s story. It’s something our specialist team genuinely love. We’re always excited to get to see these established cellars, spend time with the wines, and understand what makes each collection special, then we get to share that with Webb’s wine audience, who are just as engaged.”
— Finn McCabe, Webb’s Fine Wines & Whiskies Specialist
