In 1985 - Kip Forbes, of the Forbes Magazine family, purchased a bottle of wine at auction. Seemingly, this wouldn't be noteworthy as bottles of wine are purchased all the time, however at the time this was the most expensive bottle of wine ever purchased at auction - it sold for £105,000!! Adjusting for inflation, that is ~$367,000 in 2018 US dollars. So why on earth would a bottle be worth so much?
My dad worked for Forbes magazine for essentially his whole career, and working in the finance department was the man responsible for signing the check for this historic purchase. The way he told it, he was 'along for the ride' as Kip was insistent on buying this wine. The thing that made it so special was the inscription "Th.J" on the bottle - oh and that it was also a Lafite! It was a 1787 Lafite allegedly from the estate of President Thomas Jefferson himself. My dad said he had to close his eyes as Kip bid the price higher and higher until he finally purchased the wine. Upon leaving the auction house, my dad called Malcolm (head of the family and Forbes magazine) and told him the price they paid for the wine. Forbes was a huge collector of artifacts, but this seemed to be inexplicable. So, tails between their legs, Kip and my dad boarded their plane to head back to New York from London.
By the time they landed, however, the free press that the family (and magazine) had gained from this absurd purchase had paid for the cost of the wine many times over! Kip and my dad were praised by Malcolm for their genius marketing strategy. The wine, to this day, has not been opened but some controversy has grown around it. There are allegations that the wine is a fraud and not related to Thomas Jefferson whatsoever.
