Can anything beat Lafite? The 1982 is the likely star from the Lake Placid collection

Christie's is holding enticing sales of fine wine in both New York and Hong Kong in the second weekend of April.

The New York sale is drawn from the collection of Paul Mann and Lake Placid, with over 800 lots going under the hammer.

Over half of this is Bordeaux (with fewer than 20 bottles coming from Burgundy). Of these, there are two vineyards which lead the way.

Two vintages of Chateau Latour, the 1945 and 1961 are certainly worth considering as investments. Michael Broadbent described the former as:

"A great wine. Surely one of the best ever Latours, drinking beautifully now but with many years more life. Full bodied, rich, complete, silky tannins, complex, great length."

The 12-bottle lots are listed at $20,000-30,000 and $22,000-35,000 respectively.

However, the expected top lots are (again!) two 12-bottle lots of Lafite 1982. Each is listed at $40,000-60,000. As we've mentioned, Lafite is doing particularly well in the Asian marketplace, hence increasing demand.

Christie's own Charles Curtis MW is a fan (though maybe not when it's straight out of the bottle!):

"Eventually a triumph. On decanting and for two and a half hours later, the wine was big and smoky, with ripe fruit, a rather burnt nose, and firm, grippy tannins. With time a softer, riper plum and fig fruit character arose and the smoky, burnt aromas took a backseat, along with cedary lead pencil notes.

"On the palate in time the tannins softened as well, providing a lush, rich, velvety drink just in time for the steak."

 

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