O'Leary fact watch: a 1990 Latour trades for $5,000?

If you didn’t catch the recent Entertainment Tonight Canada story on Kevin O’Leary’s heartbreak hotel condo (one of his many “condos”, according to KO’s own website), you won’t have seen him showcase the bounty in his kitchen wine fridge, positioned conveniently beside his washer/dryer. KO pulled one bottle out, a 1990 Chateau Latour, and presented it to the cheerful ET interviewer for inspection.

It had been resting right beside a few other single lovelies: Château Mouton Rothschild and perhaps a Cheval Blanc. All of which are generally available around the corner from his condo in the Vintages section of the Summerhill LCBO.

ET’s Kim asked how much the ’90 Latour was worth. Mr. O’Leary’s reply was strangely familiar, given the issues he has had with precision and facts of late (see prior post “Some ‘Cold Hard Truth’” Sept 29-11):

“I bought this back then for about $300, and it would trade now for about $5,000”.

And he used that same “nectar of the nipple of Aphrodite” line when referring to the Latour that so impressed Peggy Wente when she interviewed him for the Globe & Mail some years ago. That time he was drinking a glass of Italian Ornellaia as I recall.

But $5k for a single Latour? The sounded pricey, even for a high end Los Angeles restaurant wine list. Given our place as the original truth tellers on all things KO, I thought I could save you all some money should Mr. O’Leary try to get you to give him $5,000 for his bottle on the basis that that’s what it’s “trading” for these days. Not that you shouldn’t take his word for it, but due dili saves us real VC types from many a bad deal.

The wine professionals at Christie’s auction house are featuring hundreds of the world’s finest wines at their upcoming auction (29 October 2011, New York, Rockefeller Plaza), including the 1990 Latour:

Château Latour–Vintage 1990
Pauillac, 1er cru classé
Levels: into neck
In original wooden case
1 dozen bottles per lot
Estimate US$7,500 – $10,000

The 1990 vintage was a fabulous year for the high end French wine makers, so our man is right to have one on hand to impress lanky TV anchors. If you’re not very good at math, Christies estimates this case of wine might go as high as US$10k. By the back of my envelope, that would put a bottle of 1990 Latour at US$833.33 per (plus hammer premium, duties and shipping from NYC). If KO actually paid $300 for the bottle, he’s done just fine if he can find someone to take it off his hands at that price.

But $5K each? What was he thinking?

Perhaps he got his bottles mixed up, and confused it with a 1961 Petrus or pre-WWII Port offering. Or maybe he was trying to burnish his reputation as a great investor, given the holes that others have poked in that over the past few years (see prior post “O’Leary: “We have never dipped into the principal” June 7-11).

But if that’s what KO thinks a Latour goes for right now, he should make his way to NYC for the Christie’s auction. There’s a bargin to be had should the estimates be right, and a case goes for US$10k.

MRM
(disclosure – this post, like all blogs, is an Opinion piece)