Rare Wine Made by Four Star Winemakers Sells for $70K
March 5th – (Napa – CALIF.) — When Jayson Hu first attended Premiere Napa Valley as a trade bidder a decade ago, he sought rare wines for his wine-seeking clients around the world. Fast forward to this year, and Hu, now a Napa Valley vintner, debuted his new wine brand Fairest Creature at the 2024 Premiere Napa Valley trade wine auction.
Not only did Hu’s Fairest Creature wine show well in the futures barrel tasting open only to qualified members of the restaurant and retail trade at the Culinary Institute of America Greystone, but at the live auction on Saturday, February 24, the five-case lot of Fairest Creature Cabernet Sauvignon sold for $70,000, securing the coveted position of the event as the top-selling lot, raising more money per bottle than any other wine.
As the event approached with 166 total lots up for bid, Hu was a bit anxious, “We had never presented our wine at Premiere Napa Valley, so we did not know what would happen,” he said. “While we are confident in our wine and stellar winemaking team, we were very flattered that our Fairest Creature wine was so well-received both at the barrel tasting by so many wine industry professionals, and then as the most successful and highest-priced lot of the auction, out of so many exceptional wines.”
Years of studying and learning, not only about wine, but also viticulture, terroir, and preferences of the most discriminating fine wine consumers, led Hu to assemble a dream team of famed winemakers for Fairest Creature. World-renowned star winemakers Philippe Melka, Benoit Touquette and Thomas Rivers Brown each hand-select vines from nine different Napa Valley vineyard sources, and then each make a wine under a separate individual label for Fairest Creature. A finest-of-the-fairest selection among all lots made by the three winemakers, is blended by Michel Rolland under a fourth Fairest Creature label, only bottled in magnum format.
This unique approach of Fairest Creature results in rare, highly sought-after wines — made in very limited quantities. A special blend was made only for the 2024 Premiere Napa Valley. In a charged moment at the event, Sotheby’s auctioneer David Pollack began the bidding process for the Fairest Creature wine. Paddles shot up across the room as the opening bid rapidly rose to $48,000. At this crucial point, winning bidder Gregor Greber of Zurich, Switzerland, jumped into action. With paddle #158 held high, he thundered, “Seventy!” securing the lot for a remarkable $70,000. A wave of excitement swept through the room, as Gregor proudly surveyed his winning bid.
“We are excited that Gregor is the bidder that purchased our wine,” Hu added, “His business in Switzerland is keenly focused on fine Napa Valley wine, and this lot provides an opportunity for a new group of luxury wine consumers to learn about and try Fairest Creature wine.”
Premiere Napa Valley is an auction of one-of-a-kind wines offered as futures to members of the wine trade each February. This year, the three-day event included the participation of around 300 wineries. Since 1997, vintners from across the Napa Valley have contributed futures lots of unique wines, each sold to a single member of the wine trade who then offers it to top clients and collectors. The red wines sold at this year’s event are expected to remain in barrel for up to three years before release.
About Fairest Creature WIne
Fairest Creature is the result of years of intentional education, study, and immersion in wine and the wine industry by proprietor Jayson Hu, who founded the winery in 2018. Jayson began a wine import business around 16 years ago. Coming from Silicon Valley, shifting his creative and analytical mindset from technology to wine. Jayson visited, lived near, and studied great vineyards, wineries, chateaus, and their wines around the world. He then set out to make the finest wine possible by securing premier vineyard sources in the Napa Valley and assembling the most highly sought-after winemaking team. The result is Fairest Creature, which produces four wines made from nine different Napa vineyards. Each of the Fairest Creature winemakers — Philippe Melka, Benoit Touquette, and Thomas Rivers Brown — makes one wine each from identical vineyard sources with every release. The fourth wine is a barrel selection of all the vineyard lots made by these three winemakers, blended by world-renowned winemaker Michel Rolland.
