To take his mind off the pressure of "the beautiful game", retired Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson collected vintage wines that will be sold at auction starting in Hong Kong in May, Christie's said on Wednesday.

The collection of about 5,000 bottles assembled by one of soccer's most successful managers will be sold along with memorabilia signed by Ferguson and has a pre-sale estimated value of $5 million, the auction house said.

The cellar consists almost 75 percent of Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, a French Burgundy which Christie's international director of wine David Elswood said "is probably the wine in vogue, the wine of the moment in terms of demand.

"So hopefully that is going to draw the attention of not just Sir Alex fans, but wine fans too."

Elswood expects big interest among Asian buyers, who have been snapping up top-flight wines for years and where about 60 percent of the lots will be on offer on May 24.

About a third of the cellar will be offered in London in June and about 10 percent through Internet sales later that month.

"Even if you disregard the Alex Ferguson connection, the quality of the wine is generally what sells very strongly in Asia at the moment," Elswood said.

The cellar spans every year of Ferguson's career with United from 1986 until he retired in 2013. It includes lots from 1999, the year United won a treble of the English Premier League, the Champions League and the FA Cup - a feat never previously accomplished and not duplicated since.

(China Daily 04/17/2014 page24)