A brief history of the 1928 Collection du Docteur Barolet (Henri de Villamont) Pommard-Epenots
A Brief History
According to the Christie’s auction house, the wines of Dr. Albert Barolet have their origins in a business created by his father Mr. Arthur Barolet.[1] Mr. Arthur Barolet would purchase wine in barrel for delivery to his cellar in Beaune. Here the wine would undergo elevage, bottling, and maturation at which point it was privately sold to various customers.
There appears to be but few records regarding the Barolet firm which might be the result of it dealing with mostly private clients. The firm of Arthur Barolet et Fils was founded in 1830. This date is found on a blank menu titled “Gargantua aux Hospices de Beaune” from 1906 as well as on company letterhead from the 1940s.[2] In the early 20th century, there are a few listings of the firm mostly with regards to the annual sales of wine at the Hospices de Beaune.
Arthur Barolet passed away in 1931 at the Hospices de Beaune. [3] The business was taken over by Dr. Albert Barolet who placed a few advertisements for the sale of barrels over the next few years. The public side of the company appears to leave few traces after this point. Upon Dr. Albert Barolet’s death in 1969, the wines were left to his two sisters who in turn sold the wine off to the Swiss firm Henri de Villamont. That fall, Harry Waugh, wine director at Harvey’s of Bristol, visited the Barolet mansion. Here he found tens of thousands of binned bottles with vintages dating back to 1911. The youngest vintages, such as 1959, were still in wood.The Villamont firm agreed to a major auction with Christie’s in order to determine the market pricing. The bottles were unlabeled so new labels had to be created. The Dr. Barolet wines continued to be sold after the first Christie’s auction in 1969. According to Michael Broadbent’s notes, there was at least a second tranche released which had been recorked by de Villamont.
Local Sales of Dr. Barolet Wines
The wines were also available in the Washington, DC area beginning in 1972. The pricing at MacArthur Liquors puts them in the range of the then recently released wines of Domaine de la Romanee-Conti. In reviewing two distinct periods of advertisements by Woodley Discount Wines & Spirits, also of Washington, DC, we can see that the prices nearly doubled between 1972 and 1979.- 1928 Dr. Barolet, Pommard-Rugiens – $26.95 in 1972
- 1928 Dr. Barolet, Pommard-Rugiens – $69.95 in 1979
- 1929 Dr. Barolet, Beaune – $17.95 in 1972
- 1935 Dr. Barolet, Vosne Romanee Malconsorts – $49.95 in 1979
- 1937 Dr. Barolet, Chambolle Musigny – $39.95 in 1979
- 1937 Dr. Barolet, Gevrey Chambertin – $18.95 in 1972
- 1937 Dr. Barolet, Grands Echezeaux – $18.95 in 1972
- 1937 Dr. Barolet, Grands Echezeaux – $39.95 in 1979
The Bottle
The bottle of 1928 Collection du Docteur Barolet (Henri de Villamont) Pommard-Epenots features a tan label which is both torn and stained. It appears to have been damp at some point resulting in an awkward positioning.
The back of the bottle features two gold foil stickers, one from the auction house and one from the importer. This particular bottle was purchased at the 2006 Acker Merrall & Condit auction of Rudy Kurniawan’s “THE Cellar”. The 1,700 lots which were sold brought in nearly $11 million. As the bottle came from Kurniawan’s cellar it is immediatley suspect as a fake. The importer strip label declares the contents as “3/4 QUART” which would date the label prior to the fall of 1976 when the metric system was adopted by liquor companies in America. It also features a spelling mistake in the statement, “IMPORTED EXCUSIVELY FOR: VINTAGE CELLARS” which appears to reference a company that did not exist in the early 1970s. The strip label itself is found over the embossed “75 cl” at the bottom of the glass wine bottle.
The metal capsule is clearly not from the 1920s nor is the cork. The cork has some age to it and could possibly originate from 1969 or later when Henri de Villamont offered a tranche of recorked bottles. There are no marks on the sides of the cork but the top does bear a circle with “F.S.” inside of it.
Detecting whether the wine in the bottle was blended by Rudy Kurniawan or is the real thing is a bit of a task. It is a long-held belief that Dr. Barolet doctored his wines. Back in 1990, the great collector Lloyd Flatt felt the wines had either see the addition of Port or Brandy.[6] This is echoed in the opinion of John Tilson who was told Cognac was added to the barrels.
When I saw the mark on the cork, a particular phrase came to mind which is the exact same phrase that occured to my friend. After I showed him my various pictures of the bottle, labels, and then the cork he quipped, “Fake Sh*t.”
[1] COLLECTION DU DOCTEUR BAROLET. Christie’s Fine and Rare Wines, Sale #1206, New York, 19 March 2003.
[2] “Gargantua aux Hospices de Beaune” published by Arthur Barolet et Fils. FR212316101__menus__M_III_01906. Bibliotheque municipale de Dijon.
[3] Le Progrès de la Côte-d’Or : journal politique. Dijon. 20 November 1931. Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Droit, économie, politique, JO 88353 URL: http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb32844000t
[4] Le Progrès de la Côte-d’Or : journal politique. Dijon. 12 August 1934. Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Droit, économie, politique, JO 88353. URL: http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb32844000t
[5] Grand Opening advertisement for Addy Bassin’s MacArthur Liquors. May 7, 1972. The Sunday Star.
[6] Berger, Dan. “At New Orleans Tasting, Everyone Raised a Glass to Vintage Burgundies”. May 3, 1990. The Los Angeles Times.
[7] Tilson, John. “THE SORDID STORY OF WINE MANIPULATION & WINE FRAUD COVERING OVER 40 YEARS OF TASTING OLD WINES”. The Underground Wineletter. URL: https://www.undergroundwineletter.com/2012/01/the-sordid-story-of-wine-manipulation-wine-fraud-covering-over-40-years-of-tasting-old-wines/
Recent Posts
Top Posts & Pages
- "[Y]ou have it in your power, before you place your order, to ascertain the expense": The wine lists of La Grande Taverne de Londres from 1795 and 1803
- I Try a Wine from Weingut Strub
- A closer look at two different bottlings of 1811 Malvasia Candida
- "The Lagar or Wine Press" a Madeira wine making scene from 1834
- The Ten Most Expensive Bordeaux Wines on Three Wine Lists From 1918, 1987, and 2014
- When vineyards were just miles from the U.S. Capitol: The wine houses of Washington, DC, 1880-1910
- 2004 Mourchon, Grande Reserve and 2005 Grand Veneur, Les Champauvins
- 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape and 2009 Coteaux Languedoc
- "Freakishly" good bottles of Chateau des Tours
- Incredible bottles of old Burgundy
History of Wine
Archives
- December 2021
- October 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- October 2010
- March 2010
- September 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- February 2009
- December 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
- April 1993
- March 1993
- February 1993
- December 1992
- November 1992
- October 1992
Copyright
All original writings and all original images are copyrighted 1992-2021 by Aaron Nix-Gomez (Hogsheadwine).
Tasting notes may be reproduced for commercial reasons, as ‘fair use’, provided suitable credit to Aaron Nix-Gomez or the Hogsheadwine website URL (www.hogsheadwine.com) is given. Otherwise all rights are reserved, and no other part of this web site may be reproduced, stored or transmitted by any means, electronic or otherwise, without the prior permission of Aaron Nix-Gomez.