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A passion for Burgundy: inside the collection of Ian Mill KC
Words: Elisa DeLuca
Published: 21st October 2024
FIVE-MINUTE READ
This November, Berry Bros. & Rudd will be launching its very first online auction. This inaugural event will feature over 500 superb lots from the personal cellar of Ian Mill KC. His collection, while including jewels from Champagne, Bordeaux and beyond, is centred around that finest of wine regions: Burgundy. During an interview held in No.3 St James’s Street with our Wine Director, Mark Pardoe MW, we found out more about the passion that has shaped Ian’s cellar.
The scope of Ian Mill’s knowledge of Burgundy’s subtleties cannot be overstated. It can certainly be seen through the breadth and depth of his collection. This features some of the region’s best-known names, alongside rising stars and vignerons who, in the words of Mark Pardoe MW, “made great wine, but did not seek the limelight”.
To have a collection featuring icons is one thing; to have one enriched by “insiders’ wines” is quite another. How was it that Ian built up such an array in his cellar?
The answer, it seems, lies in his passion for the region. “I’ve never had any bottle which has struck me as vividly as a bottle of great Burgundy,” Ian says, reflecting on a lifetime of sampling the world’s greatest wines. His initial “Damascene moment”, as he calls it, came from a bottle of Burgundy: a 1982 Bâtard-Montrachet from Domaine Leflaive, to be specific, tasted while at lunch with two friends. “The two of them got on with having a perfectly sensible, normal conversation over what was a very good meal, while I had a quite different experience. I just communed with this bottle. I couldn’t believe the impact it was having on me.”
Countless hours of thought, research and tasting have gone into Ian’s collection. Much of this has been helped by his longstanding relationships and friendships with the producers behind the bottle.
These connections first emerged when Ian became involved in Morris & Verdin, the brainchild of Jasper Morris MW. The two were already acquainted through a shared love of cricket; their relationship was bolstered after Ian’s revelatory love of Burgundy grew. In 1992, Ian became a shareholder in Jasper’s company, something which he describes as “one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life – largely because, as a result, I got to start spending time with some amazing producers.”
He lists standout names from these first years: Christophe Roumier, Philippe Engel – whose Clos Vougeot and Grands-Echézeaux would “blow [his] socks off” at M&V’s annual en primeur tastings - and, in particular, Dominique Lafon. “He’s been my hero. I have always felt an incredible sense of excitement going into his cellar, because I know that what I am about to experience is going to be remarkable.”
“I am delighted to have been asked to offer a selection of bottles from my collection to support the launch of BB&R’s venture into the wine auction market. This commercial expansion is obviously a smart move on their part, and it is a real pleasure working with their expert team”
A NOTE FROM IAN MILL KC
Wines from each of these producers feature in the lots to be auctioned later this month – reflective of how much personal feeling has shaped this collection. Not to be found, however, are wines that Ian doesn’t himself like, even if listed amongst “the greats” of the region. As he states, “I have one, absolute, invariable rule: no wine goes into my collection unless I like what its producer makes. In other words, it has to be a wine that I want to drink. Otherwise, I don’t buy it.”
Amongst the lots are a significant number of white Burgundies, a particular favourite of Ian’s. “I’ve always been a Meursault man,” he says. “Part of that is that Dominique [Lafon] made a big impression on me initially, but I just think some of the greatest winemakers in Burgundy are, and have been, from there.”
So too is Ian impressed by the innovation of the region; many of the bottles in his collection are from winemakers who champion the paths less trodden. “The person who immediately comes to mind when we talk about that is Thibault Liger-Belair,” he says, “who is not only a great arm wrestler, but a man of infinite inquisitive mind. He’s always trying different things, and I think he’s the only winemaker in Burgundy who makes his own barrels.” He notes, too, the biodynamic approaches of a number of winemakers in the region: “I don’t pretend to understand why it works, but it seems fairly clear that it does.”
His is a collection built over time. Many of the vintages featured are time capsules of Burgundy in the 1980s and early 1990s, when – as Mark suggests, during the course of their interview – there was a “golden generation” of young winemakers, taking over historic estates and implementing new techniques. “Those white wines that were made in good vintages back then, they’re still – if they’ve been well stored – magnificent to drink now. I’ve put some into the selection which I’m selling, albeit reluctantly, because I just love them.”
Outside Burgundy, where do his passions lie? California, it seems apparent, is one favourite. Ian now owns a home there and is immensely excited about some of its wines: “One of the things that animates me at this point in my wine journey is the quality and character of Chardonnays and Pinots from coastal California.” Very often, he finds, it’s hard to tell the difference between the finest of these and Burgundian examples in blind tastings, pinpointing Au Bon Climat’s “sensational wines” in particular.
Yet, it’s Burgundy that continues to have his heart – “uniquely so,” in Ian’s own words. It remains his go-to for special occasions; recently, he recalls, his 60th birthday was celebrated with a magnum of his old favourite, the 1982 Bâtard-Montrachet – as he concludes, completing the circle.
The “From the Cellar of Ian Mill KC” auction will soon be live. To register your interest and ensure you’re the first to hear more, please register here.
Meet the seller
We’re delighted to announce that Ian Mill KC is the seller behind the very first of the Berry Bros. Rudd Auctions.
Ian Mill KC is widely considered to have one of the greatest collections of Burgundy wines, amongst others, in Europe. This thoughtfully curated collection, built over many years, reflects Ian’s personal relationships with producers, as well as his deep knowledge of the world’s most revered wine regions.
As well as being a leading silk at Blackstone Chambers, Ian Mill has long been involved in the wine industry; first as a shareholder of Morris & Verdin (prior to its 2003 acquisition by Berry Bros. & Rudd), and later as a shareholder of Burgundian-inspired restaurant Cabotte, located in the City of London.
His collection is a truly exciting one. Alongside an array of Burgundy’s great names, rising stars and lesser-known vignerons, it also contains jewels from Champagne, Bordeaux and beyond – as well as a sprinkling of rather special whiskies and cognacs. Alongside these, it showcases some of the finest names to emerge from California, where Ian now has a home, and of whose wines he is, selectively, a passionate and exceedingly well-informed advocate.