Wine Spectator: Charlie Trotter’s Château Margaux 1900 Sells—Three Times—For A Combined $475,000 For Emeril Lagasse’s Charity

It was an auction lot so good, it sold three times. Lot number five at the Emeril Lagasse Foundation’s Carnivale du Vin on Nov. 16 was “Chef Charlie Trotter’s Legacy,” starring a bottle of Château Margaux 1900 from Trotter’s personal collection, donated by his widow, Rochelle. Trotter had said if he ever planned a last meal, that would be the wine. The lot also offered a private dinner for four couples at Emeril’s in New Orleans, a Wine Spectator Grand Award winner, personally cooked by Trotter’s longtime friend Emeril Lagasse.

But before the auctioneers could open bidding, Lagasse had an announcement. He had received a call from Wine Spectator editor and publisher Marvin R. Shanken earlier that day, offering to buy the lot for $100,000 to support Emeril’s Foundation. The auction crowd erupted into applause.

But Lagasse wasn’t finished. Shanken had decided to kick things up a notch. “Marvin told me he would like to donate the lot back,” Lagasse told the crowd, so the Foundation could auction it again and raise even more money. Wine Spectator has the full story.

Tagged : Chateau Margaux, Emeril Lagasse Foundation, Wine Spectator

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