Forget about barn finds and start thinking about cellar finds.
The Washington Post reports that in the 1970s, Mark Paulson — who was then working as a commercial painter — bought this headlining Jeroboam (three-litre bottle) of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche for just $250.
While the man was something of an enthusiast, he only forked out for the double magnum on the advice of his wine proprietor friend Roger Brandt, whom he’d met through a wine-tasting group.
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Paulson’s bottle of La Tâche was quickly relegated to some dusty cardboard box in his basement. There, it was left untouched, undisturbed, and more importantly, unopened for decades.
That was until the Californian native’s son stumbled across another article about Bonhams Skinner auction house selling a similar bottle of ’71 La Tâche for $81,250.
“It’s just been sitting downstairs in my basement for all these years. Never really thought that much about it,” revealed Mark Paulson (via Insider).
Even adjusted for inflation — $250 back then being the equivalent of around $1,900 today — it still represents quite the successful alternative investment considering the hammer price of $106,250 or AU$160,000 (far beyond the initial estimate of $50,000 to $80,000).
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Paulson added: “We were shocked. We were just, you know, flabbergasted, couldn’t say anything. We just kind of hugged each other and smiled a lot.”
“We see amazing bottles every day, but this one, combined with the story of how Mark got it, and how important it’s been to his life, was one that I’ll never forget,” noted Louis Krieger, Bonhams Skinner Deputy Director of Fine Wines.
According to Bonhams Skinner, approximately 1,300 cases of La Tâche are produced annually, with the vast majority being your standard 750ml bottles and very few three-litre releases in circulation.
Coupled with the exceptional quality of the vino you can begin to understand why Mark Paulson’s vintage Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche sold for the eye-watering amount that it did.
NOTE: All $$$ = USD
