Hart Davis Hart wine auction, Chicago

There’s a scene in the Golden Girls where Blanche, Dorothy, and Rose go to an art auction and naturally, hijinks ensue – Rose fans herself with her paddle and finds herself (temporarily) on the hook for $25,000 worth of Greek statuary.

That was running through my mind when we first sat down at the Hart Davis Hart wine auction recently.  Sit very still.  Don’t lift your arm for any reason!

We arrived at Tru, the restaurant hosting the auction, around 11am and found our way to an empty table, where we set up with our paddle, our auction book, and D’s ipad, handy for monitoring the auction results real-time.

A couple of glasses of wine were delivered – Champagne and a ’95 Meursault – to set the mood.

The auction moves fast, speeding through lots in a handful of seconds each.  Twelve bottles of 1982 Château Latour are sold at $16,000 in a snap; just as quickly, a case of 2005 Châteauneuf du Pape goes for under its estimate.  The bids come from the internet, reps in the back of the room, or – very occasionally – bidders in the room.

It’s strangely engrossing to watch and listen, but after a while, we got hungry.  We had signed up for lunch, and headed out to investigate the buffet.

Generally I don’t care for buffets, but figured I could make an exception for a Michelin starred version.  There’s plenty to tempt me, and my plate fills up fast – creamy cold soup, charcuterie, shrimp, plump little oysters in a mignonette sauce, a diminutive pea tart, roasted mini-sized beets with tarragon, lettuce salad, and sliced beef tenderloin.

For dessert, I had passionfruit custard, fruit jelly, and a how-can-you-go-wrong brownie topped with whipped cream.  I wanted to have another one, but managed to restrain myself.

And what of the auction?  Well, we ended up bidding on (and winning) two lots.

So in the end, we did have a Golden Girls moment: