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Michael Broadbent has surely tasted more great old wines than anyone alive. Lanky and lively at 81, the retired head of Christie’s wine department has diligently kept his tasting notes—85,000 of them in all—in identical red notebooks that now number more than 130. From those notes, published in Michael Broadbent’s Vintage Wine (Harcourt, 2002), a wine lover can learn what links the great vintages of 1911 and 1945 or which of the 16 bottles of 1870 Lafite that he’s tasted have soared and which have disappointed.

The Yorkshire-born Broad bent was “failing too many exams” as an architecture student when his mother saw a help-wanted advertisement for a wine trainee. So, at age 25, her son went to work for a restaurateur and wine journalist before signing on to work for two different wine merchants in succession. Hearing that Christie’s wanted to start a stand-alone wine department, he wrote to the chairman in 1966 to ask for the job. By then, he had earned the title of Master of Wine, the ultimate credential.

During the ensuing decades, he presided over more than 1,000 wine auctions. Broadbent talked to A+A by telephone from his home in London after enjoying a family lunch at which a magnum of Château Talbot 2001 was consumed. “Not a vintage that anyone chases after,” he said, “but marvelous.”

Why had wine sales at Christie’s all but ended before your arrival? During World War II, Christie’s London was fire bombed. After the war, the main job there was to get the picture category going again. Wine wasn’t so important.

Do you remember your first auction? It was in the autumn of 1967, and I was almost sick with nerves. That year we auctioned the cellars of the two Scottish country houses of Lord Rosebery, whose mother was the daughter of a Rothschild. He had double and triple magnums of very old Lafite. The sale put Christie’s [wine department] on the map.

Why should wine lovers who trust their wine merchants take a chanceon an auction? One simple reason: We handle wines that are normally unobtainable elsewhere.

Wine-auction catalogues often include tasting notes. How useful are they? In doing catalogues, I included notes about wines that were unfamiliar to the clientele. My notes were recent, if possible, and from a bottle of the lot being sold. But bear in mind: No matter what the tasting note says, there are no great wines, only great bottles.

How should a first-time bidder prepare for a wine auction? First, get the catalogue and read through it. Second, if there is a bidding war at the sale, try not to lose your head.

Is it cricket to call a staff specialist for help with what to buy? We’re alway shappy to give advice on provenance and what the wine is probably like. The man who bought lot number one at my first sale still asks me for advice. 

How do you feel about the astonishing run-up in prices of trophy wines? Very sad, indeed. People ask me what I think of these prices. I don’t think of them at all. The Talbot 2001 we had at lunch today was drinking beautifully, yet it was a minor vintage.

Which red wines are currently good values in the salesroom? I’d focus on the many excellent Bordeaux that are below the first growths and so-called super seconds. Your auction specialist will be glad to tell you which are the sleepers. The overlooked vintages include 1987, 1997 and 2001. The 1988 has turned out to be especially long lasting. Do avoid 1991 and 1992. 

Which white wines are smart buys? For great quality at modest price I look to Alsace. I also love the Chardonnays of the Maconais. At auction, German wines are very good buys in the sense that people don’t speculate on them.

As a Brit attuned to French wines, how do you feel about New World wines as auction material? Starting in 1969, I went to Napa Valley quite a bit. I loved some of the wines, especially Beaulieu Vineyards, Charles Krug and Inglenook. But I lost interest as they became overpriced and overalcoholic.

You were a judge at the 30th anniversary reprise of the 1976 “Judgment of Paris” tasting, at which—once again—California wines decisively bested French ones. What lessons do you draw from that result? In 1976 the California wines were a maximum of 13 percent alcohol. At the reprise, I noted the alcohol content on the labels of the empty bottles. The American wines were above 14 percent, and I’m certain that those wines, which were harvested very late, for maximum ripeness and alcohol, will lose their character with time. Good Bordeaux have less alcohol but more character that develops over the years.