MICHAEL FRIDJHON: Farewell to the father of the wine investment market
Michael Broadbent was probably the last direct link to wines from the mid-18th century
The death a few weeks ago of Michael Broadbent, founder and former head of Christie’s wine department, marked the end of an era rather than a “changing of the guard”. Born in 1927 and active at Christie’s until 2009, he had first-hand tasting experience of vintages from the mid-18th century onwards.
He was best known internationally for his books of tasting notes (The Great Vintage Wine Book 1 & 2 and Vintage Wines) detailing about 90,000 wines he deemed worthy of describing. There were many that never landed up in print. He once said: “I for one am not interested in writing about sauvignon blanc, for example. These wines are for drinking, not for writing about.”..
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