Rock star Chris de Burgh is selling a major part of his wine collection because he cannot bear to drink such venerable bottles.
COMING SOON – Chris de Burgh recites his special Christmas poem – LIVE ON DECEMBER 1
The singer – one of whose most famous tracks is 1986’s The Lady in Red – is a major wine collector, his cellar containing such classics as a case of Lafite 1945 and Latour 61, Mouton 82, Cheval Blanc 78, Margaux, La Mission Haut Brion 61 and other greats.
He has a complete collection of Mouton vintages from 1945, many of those in magnum, which he adds to every vintage.
Now de Burgh – who stresses he collects to drink, not for investment – has decided it’s time to sell many of the jewels of his collection, such as the Latour and the Lafite.
‘I didn’t buy them to sell but I’m going to sell them,’ he told Decanter.com last week, during a promotional tour for his new album Moonfleet & Other Stories.
And the reason he gives is that he feels that to break open the cases would be sacrilege.
‘The Lafite is lying in the same straw in which it was packed. It’s awesome: I almost genuflect in front of that box.’
When he takes guests down to his cellar to choose something for dinner, he says even the greatest wine lovers refuse to touch the Lafite.
‘We all baulk at opening a case of the 45. It’s almost like taking down the Mona Lisa and putting it in the toilet.
de Burgh feels that the wines will find a good home. ‘Somebody, somewhere, will fall on those cases and make love to them.
‘I have tasted those vintages so my curiosity has been satisfied. If I sell it, the money would be enormously well spent adding to my collection.’
The singer did not go into detail as to what he would buy with the proceeds of the sale – which would run to tens of thousands of pounds – except to say that he would ‘update’ his cellar.
He has an eclectic eye, enjoying German and Austrian reds, Italy – he is a fan of Brunello di Montalcino – South Africa, Argentina (the country of his birth), New Zealand and Spain.
Finally with 50m albums sold worldwide in a career spanning four decades, it’s definitely not a question of needing the money.
‘I’m doing quite nicely thank you,’ he told Decanter.com.
Moonfleet & Other Stories, a musical and lyrical interpretation of the classic 1898 tale of smuggling by J Meade Falkner, is released on 18 October through Ferryman Productions, available exclusively at Asda. Chris de Burgh will tour in April 2011.
The first single from the album is released today, 11 October.
Written by Adam Lechmere
