These Are The Most Expensive Wines In The World
Some wines are so exquisite and rare that they fetch incredibly high prices. These wines are the most expensive in the world and are considered a status symbol by many. We introduce them and explain what makes them so valuable.
The most expensive wines in the world are red! But what distinguishes a good wine? First and foremost, it is good vineyards, excellent grape varieties, optimal climatic conditions, as well as the manual work and the knowledge of the winegrowers that make an excellent wine.
Wine connoisseurs appreciate a balanced harmony of acidity and tannins, which give red wine a strong, warm and heavy taste. For good wine, one likes to dig a little deeper into one's wallet. Some wines, however, exceed all price limits and are among the most expensive wines in the world. Here are our top 7!
Rank 7: Penfolds Grange 1951 - € 88,000
Penfolds Grange originates from Australia and has been on the market since the 1950s. It is made from Shiraz grapes and is known for its exceptional quality and high alcohol content. In 2021, a bottle of the noble drop was auctioned for a fabulous € 88,000.
Not only that the bottle from 1951 belongs to the first vintage of the Grange. It is believed that there are another 35 bottles, just under half of them in complete vintage collections. The winemaker Max Schubert produced the Grange secretly behind the backs of his superiors. The bottle was re-corked and signed by him personally in August 1988.
Rank 6: Château Margaux 1787 - € 191,000
This wine comes from Bordeaux in France and has been produced since the 17th century. Château Margaux is known for its fine aromas and combination of power and elegance. Former US President Thomas Jefferson was in possession of several cases of the noble drop.
In 1989, the wine merchant William Sokolin hosted an exquisite dinner at the New York restaurant "Four Seasons". At this event, a bottle of Château Margaux, which came from Jefferson's estate, was to be sold for $ 500,000 with the involvement of the media. Unfortunately, the bottle broke before the sale. The insurance company paid out the equivalent of € 191,000 for the damage, making it one of the most expensive (never drunk) wines in the world.
Rank 5: Château Lafite-Rothschild 1869 - € 195,000
Château Lafite-Rothschild in Pauillac, Médoc near Bordeaux, is owned by the Rothschild family and is one of the most famous wine estates in the world. At a wine auction in 2010 at Sotheby's, Hong Kong, a bottle of Château Lafite-Rothschild 1869 was sold for a whopping € 195,000.
At the time, it was the most expensive 750 ml bottle of wine ever sold. The wine dates from a time before phylloxera. It was only introduced to Europe from North America at the end of the 19th century. This makes the wine even more exceptional.
Rank 4: Château Cheval Blanc 1947 - € 276,000
The prestigious Château Cheval Blanc estate is located in St.Emilion, Bordeaux and is certified Grand Cru Classé A. Due to the warm weather, 1947 was a particularly good vintage. The wine is made with Merlot and a particularly high proportion of Cabernet Franc. In 2010, a wine collector bought a 6-litre bottle of Château Cheval Blanc for € 276,000 at an auction in Geneva.
Top 3: You could swap a bottle of wine for a house
Rank 3: Romanée-Conti 1945 - € 491,000
Our 3rd place also comes from a very famous vineyard in Burgundy: Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. The wine contains Pinot Noir grapes, the vines of which have been grubbed up and restocked on the plots of "La Tâche" after the harvest. The 1945 Grand Cru Romanée-Conti thus contains the last grapes of the estate's old vines and their preceding, powerful flavour.
This is probably one of the reasons why an anonymous bidder from Hong Kong spent a small fortune on the bottle at an auction at Sotheby's in 2018. The estimated value of the bottle was $ 33,000 at the beginning. The wine lover won the bid for an unbelievable $ 558,000, which was the equivalent of about € 491,000 at the time.
Interesting: On the same evening, a second bottle of Romanée-Conti went under the hammer for € 434,000.
Rank 2: Screaming Eagle 1992 - € 528,000
The Cabernet from the Screaming Eagle winery in Napa Valley, California comes from the debut vintage of 1992 and directly achieved 99 points with Robert Parker. The exquisite wine was only produced in small quantities, of which only very few 6-litre bottles were bottled. At a charity event in 2000, one of these 6-litre bottles was auctioned off for $500,000. The wine was purchased by actor Bailey Chase ("Buffy- The Vampire Slayer").
Given the dollar price, the Screaming Eagle would have to swap places with Romanée-Conti. However, the euro exchange rate at the time of sale puts the Californian wine in second place at the equivalent of € 528,000.
Rank 1: The Setting 2019 - € 980,000
It was not very long ago that a new record was set for the most expensive wine in the world. On 6 November 2021, entrepreneur Don Steiner bought a bottle of the Jeroboam edition of Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley for a staggering $1,000,000 - the equivalent of just under €980,000!
But what justifies this incredible price? Presumably, it is the cult around Jesse Katz's winery "The Setting" and the fact that only a tiny amount of the wine was bottled. The world's most expensive bottle of wine is the only 6-litre bottle of the 3-year-old Cabernet Sauvignon - a true one-of-a-kind. In any case, we can assume that this bottle will never be opened.
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