3. 1962 La Tâche
In 2013, Christie’s withdrew a magnum of DRC from a New York auction scheduled to take place on 31 May after questions towards its authenticity raised by collectors and the prestigious domaine itself.
La Tâche is another DRC’s wholly-owned monopole other than Romanée-Conti. A bottle of La Tâche is averagely priced at HK$48,578 (US$6,235).
Before Christie’s New York auction, the allegedly counterfeited 1962 DRC La Tâche had an estimated price of US$18,000 to US$24,000. It was sold by Christie’s to an American collector at a New York auction in December 2010, and was consequently consigned for sale by the same buyer in 2012.
Don Cornwell wrote on the WineBerserkers.com that the bottle bears several inauthentic details and shows similarities to magnums of 1962 La Tâche sold by the infamous wine fraudster Rudy Kurniawan. For instance, the circumflex over the “A” in “Tâche” was not typical on DRC labels before the 1970s.
The most fatal allegation came from DRC co-owner and co-director Aubert de Villaine. He told Wine Spectator that the capsule is “obviously not original ” and believed DRC would not authenticate it.
In the end, Christie’s withdrew the bottle from sale as a precautionary measure.
