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WASHINGTON — Pentagon chief Leon Panetta will bring in the New Year with a $10,000 bottle of Chateau Lafite Rothschild from 1870, courtesy of a bet with a friend over tracking down Osama bin Laden.

The wager was struck last New Year’s Eve in California, when restaurateur Ted Balestreri pledged to uncork the oldest bottle in his collection if Panetta — then the CIA director — found the Al-Qaeda mastermind.

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As head of the Central Intelligence Agency, Panetta argued for and presided over the May 1 raid that killed bin Laden at his compound in Pakistan.

Balestreri, co-owner of the Sardine Factory restaurant in Panetta’s hometown of Monterey, said the bet came during a New Year’s gathering in his establishment’s wine cellar.

Some guests asked about his collection and he said he had no plans to open his oldest bottle, worth at least $10,000.

“But I said, ‘If Leon catches Osama bin Laden, we’ll open that bottle,’” Balestreri said, adding that Panetta quickly replied, “You’re on!”