To take his mind off the pressure of soccer, retired Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson collected vintage wines that will be sold at auction starting in Hong Kong in May, Christie's said 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 3 million pounds ($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."