The Christie's, London, auction which inspired the tasting which begat my Ch Lafleur notes on Monday took place today. This was the first time that there had ever been an auction of this legendary Pomerol with bottles consigned directly by the owners Jacques and Sylvie Guinaudeau.
Over half of the lots were sourced directly from the château. The total takings for the lots of Lafleur exceeded the upper estimates by 22%.
Large formats were in great demand, with impériales and double magnums exceeding all expectations, including a 2000 impériale (containing the equivalent of eight bottles) going for a cool £29,250.
In the old days, children, 15 Nov was Beaujolais Nouveau day. Today it's all about five-digit wines.
Acker Merrall of New York announced just minutes later that their sale of wines from 'The Man with the Golden Cellar' (aka Eric Greenberg) "lived up to the hype and expectations set for it by its incredible catalog and content, posting over $15.5 million, making it the second biggest wine sale ever held. When are wine sales going to be hit in the way that the fine art market is being? Or are collectors spending on wine what they decided to save on Van Gogh?