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NBA star drinks rare Bordeaux fine wine on way to game

05 January 2024 By Sarah Neish

Former Miami Heat point guard Dwyane Wade sipped on not one, but two, extremely rare fine wines en route to watch his old team play the LA Lakers this week.

Ex basketball pro Dwyane Wade took having “one for the road” to a new level when he uncorked two fine wines in his car to enjoy while travelling to the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

With the combined bottles fetching thousands of dollars on the secondary market Wade was preparing to watch his old team take on the LA Lakers when he decided to open the Bordeaux wines.

First up was Le Pin Pomerol 2017.

One of the priciest wines in Bordeaux, Le Pin has an extremely small production, with the Right Bank château making a mere 600-700 cases per year, leading it to become one of the most sought-after wines by collectors. For comparison’s sake, fellow Right Bank producer Pétrus makes around 4,000 cases annually.

With soils in its south-facing vineyards composed of a mixture of gravel, clay and a little sand, around 92% of Le Pin’s vines are Merlot, with a small amount of Cabernet Franc also planted.

It is widely thought that Le Pin’s wines are best opened after seven to ten years in bottle, meaning Wade uncorked his at just the right moment in time.

At UK wine merchant Brunswick Fine Wine & Spirits, a single magnum of Le Pin Pomerol 2017 in bond is selling for £4,375 (US$5537), excluding VAT.

Lay & Wheeler has a 750ml bottle of the wine in bond for £2,150 (US$2721); the 2017 Le Pin vintage has been described as having notes of baked plums, Black Forest cake and raspberry, star anise and cardamom.

Doubling up

The second bottle Wade sampled en route to the Miami Heat Vs Lakers game was Château La Lagune 1982, worth approximately £205 (US$259) per bottle, according to UK wine merchant Hedonism, which describes the ’82 vintage as having “a black fruited profile with liquorice, toasty notes”.

It would seem, however, that it is still possible to fetch La Lagune for a competitive price on the secondary market as fine wine marketplace iDealwine auctioned a bottle of the “powerful and supple” 1982 vintage for €73 (US$79.60) in December 2023.

Located in the Haut Medoc appellation of Bordeaux, Château La Lagune was founded in 1724 and has been owned and run by Caroline Frey since 2004. Read db’s exclusive interview with Frey here.

It’s not the first time Wade has shared footage of himself opening wine in the back of a vehicle. In November, he shared a video which saw him uncork a bottle of his own Three By Wade Chenin Blanc (pictured above) with the caption: “Danny let’s drive!”

However he came under scrutiny from wine fans when he opened a bottle of his own Three By Wade Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, 2019, which retails for around US$33 per bottle, after removing it from an ice bucket because he “likes to drink it cold”. Wade revealed he also fills his wine glass with ice cubes before pouring the Napa Cab into the glass.

Wade has been making his own wine under the Wade Cellars label since 2012 and produces single varietal Californian Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Chenin Blanc and sparkling wine in partnership with Napa Valley vintner Jayson Pahlmeyer.

He also sits on the executive leadership board of UC Davis’ department of Viticulture and Enology.

Slam dunk

The worlds of basketball and wine are becoming increasingly entwined.

In November, db reported that Marcus Jordan, the son of basketball legend Michael Jordon, treated guests at his Thanksgiving dinner to bottles from cult Napa producer Opus One and Spain’s prestigious Vega Sicilia.

Meanwhile, San Antonio Spurs veteran Tony Parker is crowdfunding for investment for the Rhône winery he bought last year, and the Philadelphia 76’s James Harden sold more than 10,000 bottles of his wine in 10 seconds during a live stream with a Chinese influencer.

Harden has teamed up with Accolade Wines to release his signature wine collection J-Harden, an extension of the wine company’s popular Jam Shed wine.

CJ McCollum, a shooting guard for Portland’s Trail Blazers, launched his McCollum Heritage 91 Pinot Noir in 2020 in partnership with Oregon’s Adelsheim Vineyard.

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