Bordeaux and Burgundy lead Heritage's '$3m' Asia fine wine invasion

Here's another look at the May 6 fine wine sale at Heritage Auctions in Beverly Hills.

It will be simulcast at the SHORE Bar & Restaurant in Hong Kong on the morning of May 7, making this Heritage's first foray into the Asian auction market.

"This is such a spectacular concentration of top wines in top vintages that most lots would suit the highlight reel in any other auction," said Frank Martell, Director of Wine Auctions at Heritage.

"There is real depth in Bordeaux and Burgundy, featuring all the top producers and estates. Italy and the Rhone are represented by smaller selections of blue-chip labels that sit uniquely at the top of their peer group.

"Wine lovers the world around will be impressed when they see the level of quality on offer here," he said.

That quality includes an offering of 12 bottles of DRC Assortment 1990, estimated at $37,500-plus; and three magnums of a superb Chateau Latour a Pomerol 1961.

Wine aficionado Robert Parker once wrote of the latter (in Bordeaux Book, January 1998): "If I had only one Bordeaux to drink, the 1961 Latour a Pomerol would have to be at the top of my list."

Where Parker leads, bidders follow... The Pomerol 1961 is expected to bring $35,000 or more. Also for sale is a single magnificent imperial of Chateau Petrus 1982 estimated at $32,500-plus.

Further highlights continue with, but are certainly not limited to:

* 12 bottles of La Tache 1999, Domaine de la Romanee Conti, estimated at $30,000-plus

* a Methuselah (6 litres) of 1971 La Tache, expected to fetch at least $28,000

* a banded case of 1985 La Tache, which should bring no less than $26,000.

Paul Fraser Collectibles will bring you the full results from this landmark sale when they are available.