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The Thomas Jefferson’s Chateau Lafite — The Story
There are bottles that are worth remarkable prices because, in some way, they are linked to a historical fact or figure. This is the story of a bottle of wine purchased for $157,000 in 1985, a price that remained unbeaten for many years and had never been seen before.
The main characters
In this story, in addition to Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, we will meet Michael Broadbent, an auctioneer at Christie’s; Hardy Rodenstock, a wine expert; Kip Forbes, son of Malcolm Forbes, owner of the famous magazine; and Marvin Shanken, editor of Wine Spectator.
And finally, there are Bill Koch, the millionair collector who later bought back the bottle from the Forbes family, and the former FBI agent Jim Elroy.
I read this story first in this post by Patrick Radden Keefe on New Yorker, August, 27, 2007,and then I learn the full story from the book The Billionaire’s Vinegar by Benjamin Wallace.
Having introduced the main characters, let’s start with the story.
The Group at Christie’s
December 5 for the London Christie’s auction house is an anniversary, because on December 5, 1766, James Christie made his first auction sale.
