Lloyd C Flatt cellar under the hammer in New York
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An extra dose of glamour shone in two auctions this month.
In New York, Aulden Cellars/Sotheby’s dispersed the cellar of the internationally renowned collector Lloyd C. Flatt. His bottles once occupied an entire house in New Orleans’s French Quarter.
Identifiable by a pirate-like eye patch, top hats and morning coats, the bearded Flatt, who died in 2008, was famed for extravagant vertical tastings, especially of claret, and lavish parties.
The 267 lots, sold 20 March, fetched US$1.182m, well above the US$824,000 pre-sale high estimate.
The top-selling lot was a methuselah of 1976 Romanée-Conti (US$20,000 high estimate), bringing US$42,350.
A bottle of Bouchard Père et Fils 1865 Chambertin (US$1,500) made US$10,890.
At an auction organized by Zachys in conjunction with La Paulée de San Francisco, 800 lots fetched US$2.637m.
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The Paulée was inspired by Meursault’s yearly harvest festival.
This Paulée was sponsored by Daniel Johnnes, wine director of chef Daniel Boulud’s Dinex Group, which includes Restaurant Daniel, in Manhattan. Johnnes also imports wine.
A jeroboam of 1959 Armand Rousseau Chambertin (US$40,000 high estimate) fetched US$48,400.
Two bottles of 1974 Coche-Dury Meursault-Perrières (US$1,600) fetched US$3,872.
Written by Howard G Goldberg in New York
Howard G Goldberg is a wine writer and critic based in New York City. He made his name writing about wine for The New York Times, where he worked for 34 years. He has written various books on food and wine, including Prime: The Complete Prime Rib Book and All About Wine Cellars. He compiled The New York Times Book of Wine – a collection of the publication’s best wine articles.