Collector’s Corner
Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars
Auction Articles
In front of Taillevent, from left: Steve & Tracy Eskenazi, Stephen Spurrier, Patricia Gastaud Gallagher, Warren & Julia Winiarski, Paul & Karin Wick.
Auction A Trip of A Lifetime – France, May 2007/November 2007
It started with dinner at Taillevent, the super-renowned restaurant in Paris that held three Michelin stars for 34 years, and it ended after three days of touring and tasting through the finest Bordeaux has to offer—including all five First Growths and a quite a few Second Growths. The hosts were Warren Winiarki, his daughter Julia, and Steven Spurrier who orchestrated the famous 1976 Paris Tasting and who is now a consulting editor to Decanter magazine.
The honored guests were Paul and Karin Wick of Portola Valley, CA, the winning bidders on the 2006 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Auction Napa Valley lot, and their companions Steve & Tracy Eskenazi of Hillsborough, CA.
Paul reflects enthusiastically on the trip, “The hospitality was incredible – everyone we met indulged us with generous tastings and stimulating conversation. Particularly memorable were the tastings at Mouton-Rothschild, Palmer, and Margaux, the lunches at Haut- Brion, Léoville Barton, and Rauzan-Ségla, and the two wonderful dinners at Smith Haut Lafitte and Lynch Bages.” “The trip reinforced our preference for balanced red wines—the kind of wines that Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars makes.”
For Warren, it was an opportunity to share a journey that celebrated the people and the wines that inspired his early winemaking career. “I am indebted to our California guests and our Bordeaux hosts for a wonderful experience of good fellowship, wine, food. Long lasting friendships have undoubtedly been forged.”