Which fine wine fuelled the Lord of the Dance?
Riverdance mastermind Michael Flatley has revealed the fine wine and super cars that made the physical toil on his body during two decades’ of gruelling dance tours worth it.
At the height of Michael Flatley’s fame, the dancer’s legs were said to be insured for £25 million, such was the commercial value of his electric performances.
Chicago-born Flatley was catapulted into the spotlight when he was asked to choreograph a dance performance to be aired in the interval of the Eurovision Song Contest 1994. What began as seven minutes of Flatley’s unique, contemporary Irish dancing ballooned into the megalith Riverdance and from there into a series of live shows watched by more than 60 million people and grossing more than US$1 billion.
Flatley himself continued to perform in his high-octane tours for more than 20 years, with shows often featuring as many as 100 dancers on stage performing in perfect synch. Sadly, in 2015 the Lord of the Dance star revealed he had irreparable damage to much of his vertebral column as well as a torn calf muscle that never truly mended and a repeatedly broken bone in his foot.
But was it all worth it? Apparently so.
Flatley told The Times that he “wouldn’t trade it for the world”.
Fast cars and fine wine
“I have a beautiful wife and a wonderful son,” he said. “But don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed every kiss with every beautiful girl, every sip of Château Latour ’82, every gear change in an Aston Martin and Ferrari, every private jet ride and each of my homes, known as the ‘string of pearls’ designed by the genius Peter Inston.”
The 1982 vintage of Château Latour was originally offered en primeur in the spring of 1983 for approximately US$350 per case. According to Brunswick Fine Wines, the current average retail price sits at around £6,000–£7,000 per 75cl bottle, depending on provenance.
However, fine wine marketplace Bordeaux Index currently offers a case of four bottles of the ’82 for £5,750.
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Described by Jancis Robinson as “absolutely stonking”, the ’82 Latour, she said, is “beautifully layered, complex and fully mature on the nose. On the palate there was more sweetness than one usually associates with Château Latour – a vintage factor presumably – and then a light tarry character towards the end of the palate that resonates with top-quality Pauillac and Latour’s usual mineral signature.”
Robinson critiqued the wine in 2020, at which time she commented: “Just gorgeous and complete, at the height of its powers.”
The wine entered the market just one year before Flatley found fame himself, so in some ways the vintage has accompanied him throughout his career.
Net worth
Today, Flatley’s estimated net worth is thought to be US$300 million. He owns the rights and intellectual property to many of his hit dance productions, as well as multiple high-value properties including his Castlehyde estate in County Cork, Ireland, a London residence in Belgravia, and properties in Monaco and Barbados.
Further business interests include film ventures, and his Irish whiskey brand The Dreamer, the latter a collaboration between Flatley and master blender Noel Sweeney. Spiritly currently sells Flatley The Dreamer Five Year Whiskey priced at £39.75.
Flatley’s £300m net worth means that he could theoretically afford to purchase 50,000 bottles of the ’82 Latour (when a bottle is priced at £6,000). The vintage produced an estimated 150,000 to 180,000 bottles, with Château Latour’s cellar records indicating that the entire harvest for that year yielded just 54 barrels, which translates to roughly 12,000 to 15,000 cases of 12 bottles.
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