Alchemy was the medieval art of transforming crude and worthless elements into real treasures through magical and esoteric practices. But if the medieval alchemists never succeeded in transmuting raw metal into pure gold as they dreamed, others were able to create something precious simply from water, earth and grapes: the vignerons.

With their centuries-old knowledge, they have combined simple elements of nature with a special ingredient that gives wine its veil of ‘magic’: time, a key factor in achieving the extraordinary treasures enclosed in this catalogue. The fil rouge of this particular year for Pandolfini, which is celebrating a century of activity in the world of art and luxury, and also 25 years of auctions dedicated to great wines, the passage of time is once again the protagonist of this catalogue, which presents important lots at auction on 7 and 8 November.

To open the day dedicated to the great Champagne houses, on the 7th, the inimitable Salon, which will honour us and our most loyal customers with an exclusive tasting on the morning of the same day. After the light lunch organised by the tristellata Enoteca Pinchiorri, it will be the lots from the cellars of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger - with the first four being donated directly from the private collection of Federico Ceretto, the Italian dealer - that will break the ice, followed by those collected in recent months by our experts from all over Italy.

After the champagnes, we remain in France with a restricted but very refined selection of Bordeaux Château, Latour, Lafite Rothschild, Pétrus and Yquem (already our partner in September in an event at the Rome headquarters, ed.) and a more substantial session dedicated to the great wines of Burgundy: from Rouget to Ramonet, from Rousseau to Comtes Lafon, up to the great Romanée Conti, also present in the form of a 12-bottle assortment.

Having concluded the first day with wines from the Rhone, the Chablis region and the rest of the world, a prestigious Single Owner Collection opens on the morning of Friday 8. The owner has entrusted us with a part of his immense collection, which is always expertly conserved in his cellar, including lots that are almost impossible to find: Château Lafleur, various declinations of Domaine Leroy, Sassicaia 1985, and a collection of wines from the Montevertine estate from the 1970s to the early 2000s, with extremely rare bottles from Il Cannaio, Il Sodaccio, Le Pergole Torte and Sergio Manetti's highly sought-after ‘Il Novantuno’ and ‘L'Ottantanove’.

The third and final sale session will instead be entirely dedicated to great local wines: Tuscany, Veneto and Piedmont will be the star regions with their precious wines. Starting in our region with the Super Tuscans and Brunellos, we will move northwards to the Valpolicella area, where the great Amaronis are produced, and then, at the close of the auction, to Piedmont, where Barbaresco and Barolo are the stars.

Modern alchemists, the vigneron, manage, with simple elements, to create unique richness. And we are delighted to have succeeded just like them, with time and patience, in offering you this catalogue that we are sure will fascinate you.