Trubs for Calon Segur fan

[AKR]

Some of you may remember this Calon Segur fan from his iconoclastic work in 21 Jump Street
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(GUA) Cocaine binges and $30,000 wine bills: Johnny Depp's lifestyle laid bare
Cocaine binges and $30,000 wine bills: Johnny Depp's lifestyle laid bare
2020-11-02 12:54:12.818 GMT

Cocaine binges and $30,000 wine bills: Johnny Depp's lifestyle laid bare

Owen Bowcott Legal affairs correspondent

(Guardian) -- Private islands in the Bahamas, multiple penthouses, gargantuan
monthly wine bills, blackout-inducing cocaine binges, drug rehab, trashed
location homes and a fortune allegedly syphoned off by business managers –
Johnny’s Depp’s Hollywood existence was laid bare during his libel battle with
the Sun and ex-wife Amber Heard.

That the 57-year-old actor embraced a rock’n’roll, hedonistic lifestyle was
never in doubt during the four-week case. As Dr David Kipper, the medic who
oversaw Depp’s detoxification regime, complained in notes read out at the
trial, Depp “romanticised the drug culture”.

Depp based his Pirates of the Caribbean character, Captain Jack Sparrow, on
the Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards; the actor is filming a
documentary about Richards and his life of excess.

He also played Hunter S Thompson in the drug-soaked adventure Fear and
Loathing in Las Vegas and first met Heard on the set of the author’s Rum
Diary. When Thompson died, Depp paid for his ashes to be fired out of a
cannon.

Depp was one of the biggest box office stars of his generation, with leading
roles in Edward Scissorhands, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Pirates of
the Caribbean and other hits helping to earn him a fortune.

But at the time his marriage with Heard was splintering, the court heard Depp
learned he had lost $650m (£500m) to business managers whom he accused of
stealing – leaving him with a $100m tax bill.

For much of their brief married life, the couple lived in the Eastern Columbia
art deco building in Los Angeles where Depp owned a complex of five penthouses
in one wing. Depp and Heard lived in one penthouse, and another was used to
store clothes.

Friends and in-laws were able to stay rent-free in neighbouring apartments.
And there was a “guard shack” on the floor for security staff to protect them.

Isaac Baruch, an artist and long-time confidant who lived rent-free in one
penthouse, described Depp as an “Ubermensch”, adding: “He’s generous to
everybody. He’s true and honest. He’s a good guy. He does the right thing.”

The court heard from an array of loyal staff. Ben King, his occasional butler,
testified that he sometimes saw Depp smoking cannabis around the house but
insisted he was “always polite”.

Depp admitted spending more than $30,000 (£24,000) a month on wine before he
went into rehab. Apart from the five penthouses, he retained his main home, in
a Gothic mansion, in West Hollywood, and other houses. Neither his $22 million
yacht, or his village in France, however, featured in the trial.

The itinerant lifestyle of a movie star included his own island in the Bahamas
and flights on private jets. Depp is reported to have paid $3.6m for the
45-acre tropical hideaway of Little Halls Pond Cay in the Bahamas in 2004.

He held the celebrations after his marriage to Heard there in 2015. Two
smaller islets off the archipelago are named after his two children,
Lily-Rose, 15, and Jack, 12. It was also the scene of his first abortive
attempt at detoxification, to get off Roxicodone, a prescribed narcotic
pain-relief drug to which he had become addicted.

While Depp, who was born in Kentucky, had described himself as a “southern
gentleman who had respect for women”, the court heard, his expletive-laden
speech and black humour suggested a coarser approach to life.

He swapped what he said were black humour jokes with the actor Paul Bettany
about “burning” and “drowning” Heard and defiling her corpse. His nicknames
for other Hollywood stars included “pumpkin head” for Leonardo DiCaprio and
“potato head” for Channing Tatum.

Depp’s drug and alcohol binges were a regular feature of his life. The trial
saw several photos of the actor said to show him passed out on the floor.

Sasha Wass QC, representing News Group Newspapers (NGN), which owns the Sun,
asked him: “Do you have a problem remembering some of the things you were
doing because of your excessive consumption of alcohol?”

He replied: “For someone who was pretty self-destructive during my life, I
have been pretty lucky that my brain is still functioning.” Pressed again,
Depp admitted on one occasion that he may have blacked out.

He consistently denied ever being violent, whether under the influence of
MDMA, cocaine, magic mushrooms or alcohol. In one text, requesting re-supply,
Depp referred to ecstasy as “happy pills” and cocaine as “whitey stuff”– taken
during what he described as a “Peruvian period”.

Heard implied his vast wealth and loyal staff cushioned him from normal life,
culminating in Depp losing touch with reality. No one dared complain, she
suggested, when he was characteristically late at a recording studio.

During the trial, Depp made the astonishing admission that he had not read all
of his own witness statement. “I didn’t put them together, my attorneys wrote
them,” he told the court.

Arriving at LA airport to fly to Australia, Heard recalled she had got on “his
plane, with his staff, for his flight” operated by “his crew … Johnny’s the
boss”.

[marcs]

The $30,000 a month on wine seems suspiciously low. To civilians it seems like a lot but we know better. Let's be honest -- no BWEer who owned a $22 million yacht, a city block of penthouses, and a private jet and crew would limit themselves to a mere $30K a month on wine. That's, what, a case of Burgundy and two cases of first growths from a top year?

[Musigny 151]

Two bottles of Romanee Conti or 60 cases of Black Opal.

[s*d*r]

Did JD buy huge quantities of plonk for parties or small quantities of Burgundy for himself? Maybe both.

Stu

[Claudius2]

Guys
Having a lot of money does not make people responsible or rational.
Clearly Depp did not develop a sense of responsibility with hundreds of millions blown in various ways.

I have read elsewhere that Depp liked the finest French wines but he may have had to slum it by only buying DRC occasionally.

As for Keith Richards he just took any drugs that he could get. Watched an interview with him yrs ago where he said that at concerts some audience members threw piles of drugs on stage. Not being fussy when it came to drugs, he admitted that some were pretty good.

I started my career in drug and alc rehab and my MA thesis many years ago was in personality traits of heavy D&A users, which included dried out users who were straight for a year. Compared to population norms and control group data, the user groups (dry and still using) were the same. That is, both showed quite consistent patterns - neurosis, externalised locus of control, narcissistic personality traits and dissociation (as a personality trait not from being wasted).
I won’t go on but I felt I’d had enough of it all working in NGOs and even having to identify corpses at the morgue (as nobody else knew who they were) and watching them OD and die in the floor.

My point is that drug and alcohol abuse can and does ruin people. Depp at least had a career and lots of greenbacks but he is no different to some of my old clients - that includes many people who were successful and intelligent and them lost everything in drug and alcohol binges and sometimes gambling as well. Like Richards virtually all of them were poly drug users.

[AlexR]

Arv,

I don't understand. You refer to Calon Ségur, but it is not mentioned in the article.

AR

[JimHow]

Calon Segur is Johnny Depp’s favorite wine Alex.

[Claudius2]

Guys
I think St Estephe wines must go with lots of blow.

[AKR]

Arv,

I don't understand. You refer to Calon Ségur, but it is not mentioned in the article.

AR

https://www.winespectator.com/articles/ ... -home-4109

[marcs]

He also mentioned Petrus and Cheval Blanc, which would be more the ones on my list if I was a zillionaire. Calon Segur is more for your bourgeois wine afficianado LOL

[Nicklasss]

The $30,000 a month on wine seems suspiciously low. To civilians it seems like a lot but we know better. Let's be honest -- no BWEer who owned a $22 million yacht, a city block of penthouses, and a private jet and crew would limit themselves to a mere $30K a month on wine. That's, what, a case of Burgundy and two cases of first growths from a top year?

I would never drink for 30 k$/month of wine, even if i would be rich. That would be a first step of what Claudius calls "neurosis, externalised locus of control, narcissistic personality traits and dissociation". You don't need to, as there are so many great wines at all price range. What is the point to drink only Romanée-Conti, Pétrus or Cheval Blanc except being a ridiculous high self esteem non wine lover?

I always feel like too much money don't go with good values, good reason or anything good.

The problem is "what amount of money is too much"?

And poor Mr Depp who lost everything, even if there was still a parcel of good and reason in him, liking Calon Segur. I never enjoyed the mix of Calon Segur + ecstasy + viagra + Mrs Heart, but I presume no vintages of Petrus or DRC can top that?

Nic

[Blanquito]

Movie and TV stars are clearly wildly overpaid. Think about how much money Trump made from the Apprentice (I read something on the order of $400 million).

[Comte Flaneur]

Reminds me of the English footballer Frank Worthington who famously remarked “I spent 90% of my money on women, booze and drugs, the rest I wasted”

[marcs]

I would never drink for 30 k$/month of wine, even if i would be rich. That would be a first step of what Claudius calls "neurosis, externalised locus of control, narcissistic personality traits and dissociation". You don't need to, as they are so many great wines at all price range. What is the point to drink only Romanée-Conti, Pétrus or Cheval Blanc except being a ridiculous high self esteem non wine lover?

Nic

Okay, so you couldn't drink 30K worth of wine a month. But surely any self-respecting BWEer could buy $30K worth of wine a month, or more?

If it was difficult you could hire Jim as your wine consultant, to stand behind you and repeat unctuously "very well done sir, very well done indeed" every time you fished out your credit card.

[Nicklasss]

I would never drink for 30 k$/month of wine, even if i would be rich. That would be a first step of what Claudius calls "neurosis, externalised locus of control, narcissistic personality traits and dissociation". You don't need to, as they are so many great wines at all price range. What is the point to drink only Romanée-Conti, Pétrus or Cheval Blanc except being a ridiculous high self esteem non wine lover?

Nic

Okay, so you couldn't drink 30K worth of wine a month. But surely any self-respecting BWEer could buy $30K worth of wine a month, or more?

If it was difficult you could hire Jim as your wine consultant, to stand behind you and repeat unctuously "very well done sir, very well done indeed" every time you fished out your credit card.

You're right Marcus. Drinking 30k $ of wine per month myself, no. Buying two cases of 1995 Léoville Las Cases, keep two bottles for me and send 2 bottles to 11 other BWEers (to insure that if you have a corked one, you have a spare) for a Zoom tasting, yes.

Nic

[DavidG]

NO problem spending $30K on wine per month here. If I were silly rich or it was other people's money...
Yeah, drinking that much per month might be a problem. Then again, depends on the wines.

[JimHow]

So, let's see, if I had 30 days and $30,000, what would I drink.
Well, I'm not Johnny Depp, but I'd probably take at least 2 days off per week.
So let's imagine a 28 day month, minus 8 days of no drinking, so 20 days of wine drinking, a bottle a day:

1. 1982 Mouton: $900
2. 1986 Mouton $800
3. 1989 Lynch Bages $300
4. Hmmmm. I'm gonna have to drink some fancy stuff to get to $30k....

[Nicklasss]

Suspense... will Jim include a 2005 Red Bourgogne in his listing? Or a La Tour Saint Christophe?

Nic

[JimHow]

Johnny Depp is my hero.

[Claudius2]

Marcus
I am clearly part of the bourgeoisie as I have various cases of Calon Segur yet not a drop of Petrus, Cheval Blanc or DRC. Only ever bought one DRC and two vintages (94 and 95) of Cheval Blanc.
I don’t have a lot of St Estephe otherwise.

My comments about People with serious D&A issues was not a specific attack on Depp. However he was reported to have been under the weather on various occasions when filming movies. One point I was trying to make is that drugs and alcohol don’t change your personality rather they can manifest it in several rather unpleasant ways. Longer term usage of course can and often does lead to brain and organ damage but that isn’t in itself a personality factor.

Cheers
Mark

[jal]

Oh, I can easily spend and drink 30k a month on wine:
Bordeaux only from the 70s and 80s, and only great growths
Burgundy reds or whites only 1er and grand cru (Chambolle Amoureuses, Musigny, Montrachet, Chevalier Montrachet)
Champagnes (Dom P2 and P3, Selosse, etc...)
Italian or Spanish occasionally. But we're talking Masseto or Vega Sicilia Unico

Anything I don't finish I can put in my morning cereal, but seriously 30k will not go far with the above names. Two cases of Musigny and Montrachet and that's already over 30k.

[Claudius2]

Jacques
I wonder if you will just get bored with them?

[jal]

Jacques
I wonder if you will just get bored with them?

Yes, that is the million dollar question, Mark.

[Racer Chris]

I would have to get used to spending $30K a year drinking wine before I even considered how I would spend that in a month.
It seems like I could have quite a good time at that annual rate.

[Claudius2]

Guys
A few decades ago I would have spent way more than $30 a year and on occasions 30k in one month but I ended up with more wine than I could drink in a lifetime and that in itself is a waste. Yet I did have a lot of variety - when I left Aust I had about 35% Bordeaux, 20% Burgundy about another 10% other French such as Rhône and Champagne, some Spanish, Italian a few NZ and US wines and quite a lot of Australian wine - about 25-30%.

My point is that my taste buds and palate are temperamental at the best of times and I get bored with the same flavours. I may gorge on one wine for a few weeks (or any food for that matter) and then not want it again for the rest of the year. I have made the mistake of buying several cases of a wine and then strangely losing interest in it. So the wines I consider to be favorites get drunk only occasionally. This way I get to drink lots of variety and I’d hate the idea of only drinking a small range. Wendy for example is happy to eat the same thing literally every day. Doesn’t matter what it is, I can’t live in such a world.

[DavidG]

OK, $30k in 1 month without getting bored, off the top of my head in random order without looking up prices:
1989 Haut Brion
1988 Krug Clos du Mesnil
1959 Lafite
1990 Margaux
1986 Mouton
1982 Mouton
1990 DRC La Tache
1990 DRC RC
1982 Petrus
1988 Yquem
1982 Latour
1982 Haut Brion
1961 Latour
1989 Petrus
1982 Cheval Blanc
1963 Quinta do Noval Nacional

I could go on...

[Claudius2]

David
Not sure what the exact prices are for all of these wines but the two DRC’s alone would take up a fair bit of the 30k budget.
Also with one each of these wines that is 16 only and I have a pretty good idea that Depp would get thru more than 16 a month probably with help from others. I do understand that you are just be illustrative.

One question - no white Burgundy or other whites?? Do you drink much? I’m quite partial to White Burgundy and quite a few Aust whites:

[DavidG]

No doubt you’re correct Mark. And yes just illustrating $30k worth that could be reasonably consumed every month without major health consequences. About a half-bottle a day is 15-16 bottles. More with help.

I do love white Burgs but left them off as punishment for the premox debacle. I stick to less expensive bottles and won’t age them, though I’m tempted by those with Diam closures. I also drink German Rieslings but they aren’t expensive enough to make this list.

[Claudius2]

David,
I have an odd feeling that Depp had plenty of freeloaders around, and 15-16 bottles may have been hard pressed to last a weekend...
Oh well.

I do get the issue with premox and it had led to me permanently crossing off many producers.
I'd say that it started in 1994 and much of the WB for the next decade or so was wiped out.
The last vintage where I have seen it was 2004 but by then I'd refused to buy wine from many estates and it may have gone on for longer.

The view of the Aust Wine Research Institute (noting that some Aust wines were also Premoxed) was multi-factorial, though it sure sped up the process of changing from corks to Stelvin caps in Australia.
It is rare now that any Aust producer uses corks, with the exception of production for some export markets.

Whilst I love white Burgundy, if I put together a list of my fav 100 or so wines, it would have to include at least a handful of Australian chardonnays, one Semillon (McWilliams Lovedale), one Semillon blend (Haut Brion Blanc) and one or maybe two Australian rieslings (Grosset). I'd also have to add 8-10 white Burgs.

cheers
Mark