Château Latour--Vintage 1990

9 bottles per lot
细节
Dear Client,

Welcome to the opening auction of Christie's Spring 2009 season in New York, a sale with tremendous diversity of wine on offer. Christie's has always prided itself on the quality of its selection for sale, and here that quality extends from entry level price points through to the very top.

At the close of 2008, the market for fine and rare wine was evolving as with most other markets. In spite of this turbulence, however, Christie's sold more than $50 million in total auction sales across three continents, and continues to be the world's leading supplier of fine and rare wines to the most discerning collectors. The ups and downs of late last year has clearly signaled to these collectors tremendous buying opportunity exists, and buyers have come back in droves.

In this sale, they will discover a wealth of claret from both the left and right banks of the Gironde river, including all of the top growths in full cases across many vintages: Lafite, Latour, Mouton, Margaux, Haut-Brion, Pétrus, Ausone, Pavie, Cheval Blanc, and many more. Not only first-growth quality, but all of the super seconds are here as well, in all the best vintages from 1988 - 2000, and all with very reasonable and realistic estimates.

These gems are available not only in bottle, but also in magnum, jeroboam, imperiale, and larger sizes - this sale is a treasure trove for the collector of large formats. Here are not only the first and second growths, but there are large formats of some of the worthy but less well-known gems such as Palmer, Vieux-Château-Certan that make it easy to pull that (oversized) cork.

Wines from Burgundy help round out the picture: the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Rousseau, Leflaive, and many others make their appearances, as do a host of smaller growers from the exciting 1996 vintage. The offer is completed by great consignments from the best producers of the Rhône, Napa Valley, Champagne and Italy.

Those attending the auction will also discover an ambiance unmatched at other auction houses. Ensconced in the heart of Rockefeller Center, we will offer a complimentary champagne brunch to registered bidders, with the champagne provided by Ayala, one of the original "grande marque" houses, founded in 1860. We are pleased that you have joined us for this exciting auction, and we wish you the best of luck.


Regards,

Charles Curtis, MW
Head of North American Wine Sales

AN IMPRESSIVE PRIVATE CELLAR: CLARET THROUGH THE AGES AND SIZES

This magnificent private collection comes to NYWinesChristie's from a large East Coast connoisseur. This gentleman, a long time friend of Christie's, is a passionate lover of Bordeaux and bought heavily in the mid 90's across all of his favorite Châteaux, among them the standout classified growths familiar to all the world's wine lovers. From the five horsemen of Bordeaux down to the Super seconds and into Third Growths that function as firsts, this collection has everything a thirsty claret drinker would ever want. For those whose persuasions lie a bit right of center, this consignment has plenty of Pomerol waiting for an invitation to dinner, as many of these mid 90's Merlots are just starting to reveal their charms.

The obvious highlights of the collection are the massive quantities of large format Bordeaux from coveted mid-90's vintages. With the 15 year anniversary of these wines either approaching or just reached, they make for either impressive drinking now or prescient investments for the near future. Both the right and left bank are generously represented, with standouts being the 1995 Palmer in both the Balthazar and Nebuchadnezzar format, and imperials of 1995 Lafite, Mouton, Latour, Haut Brion and Margaux (perhaps the wine of the vintage). Many of the wines are perfect for current consumption and have estimates that will encourage eager adoption into new homes.

The wines were sourced through reputable East Coast retailers and stored in a licensed and bonded, temperature and humidity controlled professional storage facility. A team of NYWinesChristie's specialists removed the wines specifically for this sale.

AC

LATOUR

78 Hectares: 80 Cabernet Sauvignon; 15 Merlot; 5 Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, Production: 350,000 bottles

In July 1993 the French entrepreneur and businessman, Mr Franois Pinault bought Château Latour from Allied Lyons, restoring Château Latour into French hands after 30 years of British ownership. The 47 hectares which surround the Château, are called "l'Enclos" which is located near the boundary with St-Julien and Leoville Las Cases in the north and stretches to near Haut-Bages-Libral. Only the grapes from these 47 hectares make it into the Grand Vin de Château Latour.
The proximity of the Gironde River which is only 300 meters away provides a slightly warmer mesoclimate than elsewhere in Pauillac and manifests itself in early flowering and ripening, and means that there is less risk of frost damage. As Stephen Brook writes in The Complete Bordeaux; "No other Medoc wine can match Latour for power, depth of flavor, and grandeur."


Château Latour--Vintage 1990
Pauillac, 1er cru classé
Most recently, also alongside all the first growths, I noted it as having wonderful depth and resonance; a classic, cedary Pauillac nose: some ripe sweetness, full flavoured, leathery, tannic texture, good length and dry finish. Last noted at the Penning- Rowsells', June 2000 ****(*) Not a long-lasting'28 but a long haul, well balanced wine, say 2010-2030." MB, Vintage Wine
9 bottles per lot