Lunch date with Parker makes $100k

A bidder at the Heart’s Delight wine tasting and auction in New York has paid US$100,000 to have lunch with Robert Parker and 24 wines from his cellar.

The lucky bidder – apparently from China – and 10 of their friends will get to have lunch with the great American critic at one of Jose Andres’ restaurants in Washington DC at a date of their choosing and with two dozen wines from Parker’s own cellar.

The lunch date has been offered before as Parker and The Wine Advocate have supported the charitable auction since it began in 1999.

The lot has never gone for less than $25,000 and this was made the reserve price this time round. With several DC-based wine collectors were “actively bidding” for the lot and the room is said to have fallen completely silent as the bid hit $75,000.

The unnamed Chinese bidder eventually won out at $100,000.

What wines Parker will bring with him is not known although the last time he offered the “lunch lot” he brought along seven bottles of red Bordeaux, six of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, three white Burgundies, two Sonoma Chardonnays and six Napa Cabernets including 1985 Chateau Montelena, 1997 Heitz Martha’s Vineyard and 1991 Dalla Valle “Maya”.

The proceeds of the bid as well as all the other money from the auction will go towards the American Heart Foundation.

The Heart’s Delight sale has made over $13 million for the foundation since it began.