Brush Creek Ranch’s Donetta Erickson thinks of the guest ranch’s 94-yard wine tunnel, where 30,000 bottles of wine live out their days at a chill 55 degrees, as the "Wizard of Oz" tunnel.
That’s partly because of how it looks, but also because it’s such a unique place.
The wine cellar at the Carbon County, Wyoming, luxury ranch is the fourth largest private collection in the United States and seventh largest in the world — and has some of the rarest bottles of wine anywhere on the planet.
Not only that, it has secret rooms hidden throughout that can only be reached by depressing concealed buttons, making it an uncommon adventure on multiple levels.
The late Bruce White, who owned Brush Creek Ranch with his wife Beth, was an avid wine collector, the ranch's sommelier Montana Busche told Cowboy State Daily during a private tour of the wine cellar.
He’s the reason for the depth and breadth of the collection.
Big wines are a feature of the collection, in part because they age so well. The collection includes many bottles in the 6- to 9-liter range.
The largest bottle in the collection is an ultra-rare 27-liter bottle of Jygantor 2016, a primarily Cabernet blend touted for its spicy oak and dark fruit flavors.
It's a limited-edition bottle produced by the Anderson's Conn Valley Vineyards, founded by Todd Anderson and his father. The bottle isn’t for sale. Not really.
Although, maybe, for the right price it could be.
One would just have to make a sufficiently high offer.
“It’s mostly just cool to have in your collection,” Busche said. “But their wines are traditionally really big like this. Wines, the larger they are at the bottle size the slower that they age. So this is going to be delicious, because it’s a great winery.
"But it can age for so much longer if they want it to because of how large the bottle is.”
Anderson also owns Ghost Horse Vineyards, a favorite of Bruce and Beth. All of those bottles come engraved with a wild, free-spirited horse on the bottle.
On the chardonnay bottle that horse is translucent and truly looks like a ghost, while on others it’s a white-line sketch of a horse with personality.
“Bruce and Beth loved that winery,” Busche said. “So, we have a few of their lines here.”
In fact, Brush Creek’s collection of those wines is one of the largest anywhere.
The Brush Creek Ranch's underground wine cellar is extensive, with 30,000 bottles of wine making it among the largest collections in the world. Some of the selections are ultra rare bottles of wine and other spirits. There are also secret rooms that can only be reached by depressing secret buttons by secret paintings. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
Brush Creek sommelier Montana Busche showed Cowboy State Daily around the Brush Creek wine cellar, which has 30,000 bottles in its collection, some of them ultra-rare, ultra-expensive selections. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
An area where newer wines are kept to age. The casks in front were from a whiskey project that put whiskey on the rails for aging. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
One of the secret rooms in the wine cellar at Brush Creek Ranch. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
Each locker on the wall in the Spirit Vault contains a different, high-end spirit. There are more than 300 different spirits available, and about 175 of them on display at any given time. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
The eagle mural behind the bar sets a patriotic tone for the Spirit Vault at Brush Creek Ranch, where more than 300 spirits await in one of the world's most exclusive tasting experiences. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
The oldest non-fortified wine in the Brush Creek Ranch's underground wine cellar is this 1958 Giacomo Conterno Montfortino. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
Ghost Horse wines are a favored spirit in Brush Creek Ranch's underground wine cellar collection, which totals 30,000 bottles and is the fourth largest in the U.S. and seventh largest in the world, according to Brush Creek Ranch's marketing materials. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
Just look at the beautiful translucent horse on this bottle of Ghst Horse Chardonnay. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
The largest bottle of wine in the Brush Creek Ranch's underground wine cellar is this Jygantor 2016, a primarily Cabernet blend touted for spicy oak and dark fruit flavors. The year 2016 was an especially good one for wines, particularly red ones. The scarcity of this bottle — only six were made — makes this a prize to own. It's one of the ultra rare bottles that's not really for sale at Brush Creek Ranch. The smaller bottle sitting next tot it is a standard, 750 ml size bottle of wine for comparison. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
Oldest Wine Bottle
The oldest non-fortified bottle of wine in the cellar is a 1958 Giacomo Conterno Montfortino, and it’s another in the "not really" for sale category.
“It’s the only one we have, and probably one of the last in the world,” Busche said. “Somebody could buy it if they wanted to, absolutely. It would just cost them a lot, and I’d have to get approval.”
While an online search suggests this wine might range from $2,000 to $3,000, that would definitely not be an offer that Busche thinks her boss would accept.
She believes it would take an offer greater than $10,000.
The 1958 Monfortino is at the pinnacle of traditional Italian winemaking and is considered a coveted bottle for even the most discerning of collectors.
Managing a collection of 30,000 wines with such expensive and valuable bottles takes a system.
At first, Brush Creek Ranch tried an RFID system, but finally settled on a simpler, numerical cataloguing system, akin to the Dewey decimal system used by libraries, but for bottles of wine instead of books.
“We’re pretty strict on it,” Busche said. “And there’s only three or four people who know how to read the code, so that helps keep us in check, too.”
So far, no bottles of wine have been lost, despite the vast number of bottles in the underground tunnel.
Older Still
While the Monfortino is the oldest of the non-fortified wines, there is a bottle that’s older still. That’s hiding in the Legacy Cellar, and it’s a 1934 Niepoort Colheita.
That’s a wood-aged port wine that connoisseurs tout as having exceptionally high quality and staying power in the bottle.
The taste is said to include intense notes of dark chocolate, molasses and spice.
The 1934 vintage is part of a legendary trio of years considered to be the best ever for this port wine. The other two years are 1935 and 1937.
Niepoort was founded by a Dutch merchant in 1842, who had moved to Portugal.
While there, he decided to start a company in his name. Five generations later, the company is still making some of the world’s best port wines, and is still headed by a member of the Niepoort family.
Dirk Niepoort’s mandate, passed down from his father, is to “innovate while preserving good traditions,” according to the company’s website.
Under Niepoort’s leadership, the company has branched out and now makes a number of high-quality table wines.
Perhaps more bottles to one day add to Brush Creek Winery’s already extensive collection of coveted wines.
The Spirit Vault at Brush Creek Ranch offers more than 300 high-end spirits to try in what is one of the world's most exclusive experiences. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
Whenever the Cheyenne Club is open, the Spirit Vault awaits, a secret room in Brush Creek Ranch's underground wine cellar. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
Comfortable seats await for one of the world's most exclusive speakeasy, the Spirit Vault at Brush Creek Ranch in Carbon County, Wyoming. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
The floor of the Spirit Vault at Brush Creek Ranch is made of leather. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
Much of the artwork that adorns the walls in Brush Creek Ranch's wine cellar have a western flair, like the lacy animal skulls. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
These are from old casks, repurposed to make a decorative wall in one of the secret areas of Brush Creek Ranch's wine cellar. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
This secret cubby has been designed with an older time period in mind. It's located in Brush Creek Ranch's wine cellar. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
Because of the glass seam in the middle of this table, many people initially think the table in Brush Creek Ranch's Founders Room is in two parts. But the log underneath it is actually one long piece. So long, in fact, the room had to be built around the log. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
The Founders Room table at Brush Creek Ranch seats 12. It was made with a continuous log from a tree that was cut in half. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
The Founders Room was built around the table, which is made from the trunk of an old tree that's been cut in half. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
This sculpture is made from a slice of burl wood that's been charred black in places and painted with gold leaf in others. Figures seem to dance on the surface, inviting the imagination to run wild for a contemplative moment in Brush Creek Ranch's underground wine cellar. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
Most Expensive Wine Bottle
While the Jygantor and Montfortino might seem pricey, they aren’t the most expensive bottle in the collection.
That’s the 6-liter, $34,000 bottle of Ghost Horse Premonition 2010, of which only six bottles were ever made.
The 2010 vintage is considered by many wine connoisseurs to be among the best in a generation.
That exceptional quality of year, plus the extreme scarcity of this particular Napa cabernet sauvignon is driving the high price of this collector’s item, which is said to have a velvety-smooth texture with deep plum, currant, and chocolate flavors.
A 6-liter bottle of the wine would have around 40 glasses in it, making each glass $850.
That’s actually a discount, Busche said, if you consider that a standard 750 ml bottle of Ghost Horse Premonition ranges between $7,000 to $10,000. That would raise the cost of a glass to between $1,400 to $2,000.
The 6-liter Ghost Horse Premonition is among the bottles of wine kept in the cellar for the Founder’s Room, which is a popular spot for special occasions like high-end business dinners and wedding parties.
Some of the wedding parties that have occupied the wine cellar have been very large and spectacular affairs, Busche added.
The table in the Founder’s Room is particularly special.
“It’s one solid half of a tree,” Busche said. “It looks like two pieces, but that’s just because of the glass. It’s actually one whole piece.
"And it was too long to have gone through the tunnel and turn into here. So they laid the foundation, placed the tree in here, and then built the room around it.”
That means the table can never be removed from the room, not without completely destroying it.
The last time there was a bottle of this particular bottle of Macallan Scotch for sale, it went for $110,000. That cost makes each 1.5-ounce shot more than $6,000 each. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
Among the secret areas of Brush Creek Ranch is this dining area, with rawhide chairs. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
An ultra-rare 1934 bottle of Niepoort is among wines in the Brush Creek Ranch's collection. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
One of the wine cellars that specializes in large-format bottle sizes. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
This dessert wine is more often served in a half bottle size. But Brush Creek Ranch has the much rarer 6-liter size available, perfect for large wedding parties. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
A 2016 bottle of Ghost Horse's Premonition is Brush Creek Ranch's most expensive bottle of wine at $34,000. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) Ghost Horse wines are a favored spirit in Brush Creek Ranch's underground wine cellar collection, which totals 30,000 bottles and is the fourth largest in the U.S. and seventh largest in the world, according to Brush Creek Ranch's marketing materials. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
More Expensive Yet
Cowboy State Daily was shown three of the cellar’s secret rooms, though there are more than that on the property.
These rooms are not easy to find or access without a guide.
Someone who knows where the secret panel is to the left of a certain photo will trigger a door to open wide on a hidden and secret world.
What awaits behind that door is a dimly lit speakeasy whose walls are glowing windows, each containing different spirits lit from below.
It instantly feels as if you have entered another world, one that could lie at the crossroads of a different universe. And while you enter through one door, you cannot leave by that same door.
Leaving the room — which you will not want to do in any case — requires finding yet another secret door.
“We have more than 300 spirits here from around the world,” Busche said. “About 175 of them or so are in these lockers.”
She gestured at the glowing windows on the walls, containing all manner of spirits — French, Irish, Japanese, Taiwan, Tennessee. It's a dizzying selection.
“We do have Scotch from all five subregions, and we really focus on Macallan,” Busche added. “We have really a lot of fun different ones.”
One that’s particularly special — and expensive — is the Macallan 1950 Exceptional Single Cask scotch.
This ultra-rare, cask-strength scotch was barreled in 1950 and bottled in 2018, making it 68 years old, and is one of just 336 bottles ever made.
The last time a bottle sold at auction, the price was $110,000.
That makes the cost of a standard 1.5-ounce shot $6,875.
Getting to drink the spirit or wine of your choice in this secret spirit vault that’s been hidden within one of the world’s largest wine and spirit collections is the priceless part of one of the world’s most exclusive adventures.
It’s all hiding in a remote part of Carbon County in the Cowboy State.
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
