Zachys again

It's been more than 2 years since I went to the inaugural Zachys auction in Hong Kong.  After a period of almost a year, during which they sent me catalogs of every one of their auctions - some of which were returned or destroyed by Fedex upon non-delivery while there was no one at home - I was taken off their mailing list.  No skin off my nose, since I ended up giving all my business to Acker.

I showed up late today - some time after 4:30 p.m. Turns out I had just missed a few lots I was interested in, but no matter.  The room was perhaps a quarter full by then, but there were still very few bargains to be had.  Hammer prices for Lafite-Rothschild still blew through the high-end of estimates time and again.

As usual, I did my homework beforehand so I knew the street prices for the lots I was interested in.  And as usual, there was always somebody who was willing to pay more money than they needed to, and I lost out when I exercised restraint.  I did end up taking down 2 lots: a bottle of Yquem from mom's vintage, and a case of Araujo Eiesle from one of California's best vintages in recent years.

I also managed to taste these during the 3 hours I spent at the auction:

2000 Alter Ego - classic nose of smoke, earth, fruit and mint. Very easy to drink.

2001 Le Vieux Donjon - what a beautiful wine! Big, floral nose along with notes of tea leaves, spruce, exotic spices, sweet, and a bit alcoholic. Still a little tannic. Very lovely.

1975 Mouton-Rothschild en magnum - smoky, chalky, sweet like strawberry, grilled meats and soy sauce.