elBulli To Auction Off Wine At Sotheby's

elBulli, one of the world's best restaurants, closed last year after being in business in Spain since 1961 and is now in the process of being transformed into a foundation. Ferran Adrià, who ran the restaurant for the last 27 years and propelled it into the realm of truly legendary restaurants, has partnered with Sotheby's to auction off the remains of the restaurant's famed wine cellar, and the auction will finally be held in New York City's Sotheby's on April 26.

"The elBulliCellar comprises an exceptional and unique collection of wines, that was created and developed by Juli Soler and the elBulli sommelier team," Adrià said in a release. "Due the transformation of elBulli, from a restaurant to a Foundation, we decided this very special and personal collection should be used to make a founding contribution to help ensure the successful launch of the elBulliFoundation."

The quality of the wine that will be auctioned off is really stunning, and the elBulli team estimates that the haul could net more than a $500,000 for the foundation (half of the wine was already auctioned off, in Hong Kong). There will be approximately 4,000 bottles auctioned off, running the gamut from $50 magnums of Domaine Cheze St. Joseph Cuvée Prestige de Caroline 1999 to bottles of 1990 Domaine de la Romanée Conti, which can fetch nearly $50,000 per bottle. Wines from Spain and France are in the majority, with wines from the Rhone and Bordeaux and red and white Burgundy highlighted.

All proceeds will benefit the in-the-works elBulliFoundation, which, according to Adrià, "will study the efficiency of the innovation processes, and how they are recorded and audited, using cooking as a language that interacts with other disciplines."