This 40-year-old bottle of wine worth $180,000 is up for sale
Christie's is hosting its first wine auction since 2022 on June 12, brought to you by billionaire businessman, private collector and America's Cup winner, Bill Koch. The three-day event features 1,500 lots comprising nearly 8,000 bottles of historic vintages from his private collection, which has a low estimate of $15 million, but could exceed $21 million.
Bordeaux and Burgundy make up the lion's share, and at the heart of the collection is more than 750 large-format bottles — including over 45 Jeroboams (three liters) and Methuselahs (six liters) from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.
In fact, the revered wine producer makes up the entirety of the top 10 by value list, with number one — a 1985 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Côte de Nuits Grand Cru — seeing a high estimate of $180,000.
'A Chicago wine dealer brought this bottle to my attention in 1988. He acquired it from Europe,' Koch told The Post, referring to himself as a wine 'geek.'
6 Bill Koch said he's amassed some 43,000 bottles across his cellars at his estates in Palm Beach, Cape Cod and Aspen.
Christie's Images LTD.2025
'I have loved large-format bottles because they take longer to mature,' he explained. 'It has to do with surface space and oxygen. The larger the bottle, the less exposure to oxygen, the better the wine ages. But putting aside my geekiness, this wine is one of the vintages my wife loves to drink. She has great taste. It was an excellent year for Burgundy.'
Indeed, 1985 was a great year for wine, but this is also a big one. A methuselah holds six liters — or eight standard bottles.
'$120,000 divided by 203.2 ounces equals $590-plus per ounce,' said Joe Czerwinski, The Wine Advocate's Wine Reviewer for Canada, Napa Valley and New York State regions.
'That's the low estimate, which doesn't include the buyer's premium. If it goes to the high estimate, you're talking upwards of $900 per ounce.'
6 Experts told The Post the auction will dazzle wine enthusiasts.
Christie's Images LTD.2025
Jhonel Faelnar, beverage director for NAEUN Hospitality, which includes New York City's Atoboy, Naro and two-Michelin-starred Atomix, believes it to be one of the best vintages ever produced.
'Romanée-Conti is, of course, one of the most storied vineyards in Burgundy and in the world, coming from one of the most hallowed producers of Pinot Noir ever to exist,' he said. 'I would certainly like to drink this bottle, were I to have the chance to.'
He said the $180,000 price is worth it — for 'the people who can afford' it.
'These wines are pieces of history, and it's a special moment to encounter these, especially if you can be a part of opening and tasting them,' said Faelnar.
While the collection features a variety of price points — the 1929 Château Haut-Brion going for $2,000 to $3,000 caught Faelnar's attention — he said some may be too rich for one's blood.
6 'These wines are pieces of history, and it's a special moment to encounter these,' Jhonel Faelnar said.
Christie's Images LTD.2025
'You're bidding for a piece of art at this point — one you can potentially imbibe and ingest,' Faelnar said.
'Oftentimes, they can be disappointing in the glass — they are, after all, hundred-year-old bottles of wine. But the anticipation that it might be every bit as amazing as one can hope for, fuels every collector's hopes and folly.'
Six magnums of the 1982 Château Mouton-Rothschild are also up for the taking for a tune of $9,000 to $14,000. This particular vintage unlocks a core memory for Koch, sharing it with Will Smith's agent, Jim Lassiter. (Yes, that Will Smith.)
'He came to my house with Steve Tisch and David Bloomfield of Escape Artists,' he recalled. 'They had purchased the movie rights to the book 'Billionaire's Vinegar' [and] were looking for my participation and investment capital. The superb wine was the only thing we agreed on that evening.'
6 Koch referred to himself as a wine 'geek' and keeps a massive collection across residences. Pictured here is his Palm Beach cellar.
Christie's Images LTD.2025
Koch said his chemical engineering background helped influence his wine collecting. At one point, he had upwards of 43,000 bottles across his cellars at his estates in Palm Beach, Cape Cod and Aspen.
He views the auction as a gift that keeps on giving — it's a part of a wine collection that he's spent half a century curating.
'These bottles reflect my taste, my interest in history, my passion for collecting and my respect for the care and work that goes into developing great wines, year after year,' he said of his lot, now at 21,000 bottles. 'I have some of the world's best wines, stored in a state-of-the-art cellar and more carefully researched and vetted than any collection I know of. I am enormously proud of it.'
6 'I just don't think we will see many more collections like this come to market again,' said Adam Bilbey, Christie's Global Head of Wine and Spirits. 'This is a chance to be part of vinous history.'
Christie's Images LTD.2025
'I just don't think we will see many more collections like this come to market again,' said Adam Bilbey, Christie's Global Head of Wine and Spirits. 'This is a chance to be part of vinous history.'
Koch told The Post that after the sale, he will 'still have about 12,000' bottles in his cellar, but doesn't 'expect to add to that.'
'As for the ones I am parting with, which include 45 large-format bottles, it would take two lifetimes and a daily regime of parties to go through them all. It's time for others to enjoy them.'
6 'I have some of the world's best wines, stored in a state-of-the-art cellar and more carefully researched and vetted than any collection I know of. I am enormously proud of it,' Koch said.
Christie's Images LTD.2025
The top 10 wines at The Cellar of William I. Koch: The Great American Collector auction, by value:
1985 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Côte de Nuits Grand Cru Methuselah: Low Estimate: $120,000; High Estimate: $180,000 1991 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Côte de Nuits Grand Cru Methuselah: Low Estimate: $110,000; High Estimate: $170,000 1999 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Côte de Nuits Grand Cru Methuselah: Low Estimate: $100,000; High Estimate: $160,000 1996 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Côte de Nuits Grand Cru Methuselah: Low Estimate: $100,000; High Estimate: $160,000 1999 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche Côte de Nuits Grand Cru Methuselah: Low Estimate: $80,000; High Estimate: $120,000 1990 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Côte de Nuits Grand Cru Jeroboam: Low Estimate: $70,000; High Estimate: $100,000 1985 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Côte de Nuits Grand Cru Jeroboam: Low Estimate: $48,000; High Estimate: $70,000 1985 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Côte de Nuits Grand Cru Jeroboam: Low Estimate: $48,000; High Estimate: $70,000 1985 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Côte de Nuits Grand Cru Jeroboam: Low Estimate: $48,000; High Estimate: $70,000 1995 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Côte de Nuits Grand Cru Jeroboam: Low Estimate: $45,000; High Estimate: $65,000
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Google's AI pointed him to a customer service number. It was a scam.
Alex Rivlin was tackling a last-minute task for his European vacation. That's how he got snagged in an artificial intelligence-enabled scam. Rivlin, who runs a real estate company in Las Vegas, needed to book a shuttle to catch a cruise ship. From his kitchen table, he searched Google for the cruise company's customer service number, chatted with a knowledgeable representative and provided his credit card details. Subscribe to The Post Most newsletter for the most important and interesting stories from The Washington Post. Rivlin said that the number he called was highlighted in Google's 'AI Overviews' - AI-generated responses to some web searches. The next day, Rivlin saw fishy credit card charges and realized that he'd been fooled by an impostor for Royal Caribbean customer service. He'd encountered an apparent AI twist on a classic scam targeting travelers and others searching Google for customer help lines of airlines and other businesses. I found the same number he called appearing to impersonate other cruise company hotlines and popping up in Google and ChatGPT. Welcome to the AI scam era. Experts warn that old scammer and spammer tricks that have swamped the web, social media, email and texts are now also manipulating AI information - and Rivlin is among an early wave of victims. 'I'm pretty technologically advanced, and I fell for this,' said the founder of the Rivlin Group at lpt Realty. I'll walk you through how to guard against experiences like Rivlin's, and what companies such as Google should do to stop crooks from warping AI information. - - - How scammers fooled Rivlin and Google Rivlin told me that the bogus customer service number and the impostor representative were believable. The rep knew the cost and pickup locations for Royal Caribbean shuttles in Venice. He had persuasive explanations when Rivlin questioned him about paying certain fees and gratuities. The rep offered to waive the shuttle fees and Rivlin agreed to pay $768. Rivlin said that he was suspicious of oddities, including an unfamiliar company name that came through on the credit card charge. When two bogus card charges landed the next day, Rivlin knew he'd been tricked. He canceled his credit card and the charges were reversed. Rivlin mostly blames the crooks and himself for falling for the scam. But I've seen so many versions of similar trickery targeting Google users that I largely blame the company for not doing enough to safeguard its essential gateway to information. So did two experts in Google's inner workings. Here's how a scam like this typically works: Bad guys write on online review sites, message boards and other websites claiming that a number they control belongs to a company's customer service center. When you search Google, its technology looks for clues to relevant and credible information, including online advice. If scammer-controlled numbers are repeated as truth often enough online, Google may suggest them to people searching for a business. Google is a patsy for scammers - and we're the ultimate victims. Google's AI Overviews and OpenAI's ChatGPT may use similar clues as Google's search engine to spit out information gleaned from the web. That makes them new AI patsies for the old impostor number scams. 'Manipulating these new answer engines using techniques from 30 years ago is like shooting sitting ducks,' said Mike Blumenthal, analyst at Near Media, a consumer search behavior research company. (Blumenthal told me about Rivlin's Facebook video relaying his experience.) Blumenthal and I found Google and ChatGPT identifying the same number that fooled Rivlin as a customer service number for other cruise lines, including Disney and Carnival's Princess line. In a statement, a Google spokesman said that AI Overviews and web search results are effective at directing people to official customer service information for common types of searches. The spokesman said that the company has 'taken action' on several impostor number examples I identified and that Google continues to 'work on broader improvements to address rarer queries like these.' Royal Caribbean's customer service number is 1-866-562-7625, which the company says it shows on its websites, apps and invoices. Disney and Princess didn't respond to my questions. OpenAI said that many of the webpages that ChatGPT referenced with the bogus cruise number appear to have been removed, and that it can take time for its information to update 'after abusive content is removed at the source.' (The Washington Post has a content partnership with OpenAI.) - - - What you and companies can do to ward off this scam - Be suspicious of phone numbers in Google results or in chatbots. Rivlin said that he looked for Royal Caribbean's customer service contact number in its app. No luck. Google or chatbots are natural next spots to look for business numbers, but it's worth being extremely careful of numbers they show. Eyeball associated links in Google or ChatGPT before you call. Read more advice on fake customer service scams. - Why is Google making it easier for scammers? The company knows the long history of people being fooled by bogus customer service numbers they find in search results. You'd be safer if Google didn't show AI Overviews - which seem like authoritative 'answers' - for business number searches, said Lily Ray, vice president of search engine optimization strategy and research at the marketing firm Amsive. 'By allowing AI Overviews to appear for business phone number queries, they're opening up a new opportunity for scammers - and one that scammers are clearly already using to their advantage,' Ray said by email. Ray and Blumenthal say that Google has databases of vetted information, including for businesses, and that the company should ensure search and AI results only grab information from there. Back home this week after a great trip, Rivlin said that he's watching for more bogus charges or attempted identity theft. And Rivlin wants to spread the word that even being well informed about scams and a believer in AI didn't make him immune to AI-enabled trickery. 'I can't believe that I fell for it,' he said. 'Be careful.' Related Content Ukraine scrambles to roll back Russian eastern advance as summit takes place Her dogs kept dying, and she got cancer. Then they tested her water. D.C.'s homeless begin to see the effects of Trump's crackdown Solve the daily Crossword
New York Post
5 hours ago
- New York Post
How downtown Los Angeles became a boarded-up ghost-town with hoards of drug-smoking vagrants and dozens of shuttered storefronts
LOS ANGELES — Downtown in the City of Angels is looking more and more like a ghost town. The famed Los Angeles neighborhood has become a shadow of its former glory — with rows of boarded up shops, chain stores leaving in droves and hoards of drug-using vagrants sparking major safety concerns for shoppers and business owners alike. The Post can reveal that there are more than 100 vacant storefronts in the area's Historic Core, which was the rip-roaring heart of the downtown shopping and entertainment district. Advertisement 17 A homeless encampment seen in downtown Los Angeles on Aug. 16, 2025. Ruaridh Connellan for NY Post 17 A map of business closures in the Historic Core of LA. Donald Pearsall / NY Post Design The area's Art Deco buildings and lavish theater marquees are still there, but they now overlook busted windows, boarded-up storefronts, and throngs of homeless people smoking drugs from glass pipes in broad daylight. Advertisement Around one-third of commercial spaces sits empty, according to research firm Avison Young — a higher vacancy rate than Detroit. Even the most stalwart businesses are being driven out by crime, record-high rents and an ever-shrinking pool of Angelenos with any reason to be downtown, according to business owners. 'Many historical independent restaurants are struggling under the weight of these issues and have already closed, while those remaining are fighting to survive,' wrote the LA's oldest eatery, Cole's French Dip, when it announced its forthcoming closure. And it's not just mom-and-pop joints — chain stores have also been closing downtown locations at a disastrous clip. Macy's shuttered earlier this year as part of a massive corporate downsizing, leaving downtown without a department store for the first time in 150 years, according to LA Magazine. 17 Cole's French Dip announced its closure in DTLA. Ruaridh Connellan for NY Post Advertisement 17 A barefoot homeless man seen walking outside of Cole's French Dip. Ruaridh Connellan for NY Post Retailers Vans, Theory, Paul Smith and Acne have also vacated the nabe. In 2022, Starbucks closed one of its downtown locations, citing safety concerns. Other big-name brands like the Adidas and Apple stores fell victim to looters — both during the Black Lives Matter riots of 2020 and the anti-ICE protests this summer, though they continue operating. Each month, the streets of downtown get a little emptier — save for the homeless wandering into downtown from Skid Row in ever greater numbers. Advertisement 'They're coming all the way up to Spring Street now,' said one barber who works in the city's 'Historic Core.' The day before speaking to The Post, the barber, who asked not to be named, had to call the cops when a homeless man stormed into the shop and barricaded himself inside. 'Everything is different now,' he said. 'You used to have people partying in the street. Students would come in from the colleges. They'd get a haircut and go out and have fun.' 17 Homeless people sleeping in the entranceway of a shuttered storefront in DTLA. Ruaridh Connellan for NY Post 17 A homeless man pushing a cart outside of the Hotel Barclay. Ruaridh Connellan for NY Post 17 An abandoned storefront seen in DTLA. Ruaridh Connellan for NY Post Before the pandemic, downtown LA was in the middle of a renaissance the likes of which it hadn't seen since the Roaring Twenties, when playboys and flappers perused the boutiques and glittering movie palaces of Broadway Street, according to historian William Deverell, author of 'Whitewashed Adobe: The Rise of Los Angeles.' 'There was a high-water mark around 2015 to 2020. It was a period of energy and redevelopment in the Arts District, in addition to the Historic Core,' Deverell said. But COVID-19 dealt a blow that downtown is still reeling from — and not just because people stopped going out. Advertisement 17 Protesters looting and vandalizing a Starbucks in downtown LA during the BLM protests on May 29, 2020. AP Photo/Christian Monterrosa,File 17 National Guard troops protecting a boarded up business in LA on June 6, 2020. Photo byRioters smashed and looted dozens of shops and restaurants during the BLM protests, and many businesses either never reopened or went under within the year. Today, many street-level businesses leave their windows boarded up as a standard precaution. And some of the neighborhood's most famous landmarks have become the biggest eyesores — including the empty former headquarters of the Los Angeles Times and the boarded-up Morrison Hotel, featured on the cover of the namesake Doors album. A skyscraper sits empty: The abandoned 677-foot Oceanwide Plaza tower has become a giant playground for hooligans and vandals. Advertisement 17 The abandoned Oceanwide Plaza seen on Aug. 16, 2025. Ruaridh Connellan for NY Post 17 Graffiti seen on the side of Oceanwide Plaza. Ruaridh Connellan for NY Post Down on the ground, criminals run roughshod, locals complain. Violent crime is down in the city overall, but downtown LA feels like a huge exception, said the owner of Benny Jewelry Behzad on Broadway. Advertisement 'It's been a 180-degree change here,' said Benny, adding that he's been held up at gunpoint twice in recent years. Benny said his real problem is rent, which has gone up 2-5% each year since the pandemic. 17 Burn marks seen on the windows of the Morrison Hotel in LA. Ruaridh Connellan for NY Post 17 A fence seen outside the abandoned LA Times headquarters. Ruaridh Connellan for NY Post Advertisement He isn't alone: Commercial rent in downtown reached a record high this year, with businesses shelling out almost $50 per square foot just for office space, according to Avison Young By comparison, the average office rent in downtown Manhattan in New York City is $57 per square foot, and nearly $90 per square foot in Midtown — areas that have seen a boom from post-pandemic return-to-office policies. 'Landlords need lower rents instead of just holding onto empty spaces,' said Michael Backlinder, whose coffee shop features one of the only outdoor dining spaces left on Broadway. 'Landlords need to understand they aren't sitting on a gold mine,' he said. 17 A closure message on the marquee of The Mayan seen on Aug. 16, 2025. Ruaridh Connellan for NY Post 17 A message to customers outside of The Mayan. Ruaridh Connellan for NY Post Yet Backlinder believes downtown remains a decent place for those who live there, thanks to a core of local watering holes, community art galleries, yoga studios and other services catering to neighborhood folk. Glen Proctor, who moved from New York with his husband after the pandemic, said they like the quieter streets — even if those streets come with graffiti and hooligans. 'Our life from New York is much more relaxed,' he said. 'It can get crazy with the unhoused around, but you get a lot more space for something you would pay a lot more for in Hollywood.' 17 A homeless person sleeping on a bench at a bus stop in DTLA. Ruaridh Connellan for NY Post 17 A homeless person sleeping outside of an abandoned building in DTLA. Ruaridh Connellan for NY Post Proctor and his husband aren't alone: More Angelenos are choosing to live downtown rather than vie for space in ritzier neighborhoods. Apartment occupancy is currently around 90%, according to the DTLA Alliance, which is higher than pre-pandemic levels. Backlinder believes neighborhood is due for a comeback, but it won't get one by trying to be the next Greenwich Village. 'After the pandemic, you had corporate stuff coming in, high-end retail. High-end retail is what people buy online. We need landlords to activate the streets and invest in services for the people who live here.' But for downtown to change, the city has to invest in it — and change the faded perception of the nabe. 'Everyone thinks people are dying downtown, but that's not the case,' he said. 'People just need to talk more positively.'
New York Post
6 hours ago
- New York Post
Meet the LI native who skipped college and turned Montauk into Margaritaville with his own tequila brand
He took a shot. An East Hampton native who skipped college to follow his professional dream is succeeding on Long Island's luxe South Fork peddling his own tequila brand. 'Larger brands … they just drop some product on a table,' Montaukila owner Simon Cascante, 33, recently told The Post. Advertisement 5 Long Island native Simon Cascante started the tequila brand Montaukila. Dennis A. Clark So Cascante said he instead sought a low-key, locally focused method to help remind people that there's more to the East End than being an overflowing playground for viral influencers and A-listers. 'I think people started out skeptical. … But I hear all the time now, 'Wow, this is a really cool brand,' the entrepreneur said. 'Customers find out there are no outside investors, that I didn't go to college and did this on my own. People have loved it.' Advertisement Cascante, now in his sixth year in the business, spends each summer personally driving a special van, a k a a 'mobile cantina,' with a makeshift bar and special tequila tap to events and markets around the area. 'The sleepy town, the summer escape and getaway for people was really what Montauk once represented — and I wanted to maintain that,' he explained. 5 Cascante drives his own 'mobile cantina' van to events and markets on Long Island. Dennis A. Clark 5 Montaukila cans on sale at a local business in Montauk. Dennis A. Clark Outpouring of effort Advertisement Cascante has been inadvertently building a proof of concept since his teenage years, clearing tables and tending bar at nearby Amagansett's staple eatery Lobster Roll, where he showed face in the community and put his work ethic on display. The millennial entrepreneur said it was there — rather than a university classroom — that he learned how to branch out. 'I think the restaurant industry is probably one of the best examples of going to business school,' said Cascante, who still holds a managerial role at Lobster Roll, which serves his canned cocktails. Advertisement 'I think if you can do it at a high level, you can run any business.' Rising in the ranks of the service industry while also learning some graphic design along the way sparked an a-ha! moment for Cascante in 2019 — and sparked his crafty drink name. 'If you say Montauk and tequila three times fast, you get Montaukila,' he said. 'I told myself, 'If I don't do this, I'm going to kick myself in the ass. I have the concept. I have the name. I just have to figure out how.' ' On the rocks The liquor he chose was especially complicated as, by law, it must be produced in Jalisco, Mexico, said Cascante, whose family came to America from Costa Rica. Things didn't start smoothly for him, though. 5 Montaukila is sold across Long Island as well as in New York City and the Hudson Valley. Dennis A. Clark He said his cold-calling of nearly a dozen distilleries south of the border resulted in rejection after rejection — until one finally wanted a taste for a surprising reason. Advertisement Casa Maestri agreed to do business ultimately because an executive there once vacationed in Montauk and knew the area would be thirsty for Cascante's approach, according to the small-business operator. 'It was a miracle,' he said. 'I think everything happens for a reason. I was about ready to give up and quit.' 5 Cascante credits his experience working in the hospitality industry on Long Island as preparation for building his brand. Dennis A. Clark Since that fateful day, Cascante has branched out Montaukila across Long Island, New York City and the Hudson Valley, which was no easy task. Advertisement 'The biggest obstacle was penetrating the retail market; there's a lot of pay to play in this area,' Cascante said. 'My hospitality background really helped … being able to set up events and do them a little bit differently than everybody else.' This season, he's also branched out into canned cocktails and, admittedly, obsessed over salinity levels to give them a proper salt on the rim aftertaste. 'Some of the competitors aren't too happy already,' Cascante said. 'So I'm excited about that.'
