Are you thinking of picking up a bottle of wine? Do you want to take it home for dinner tonight? It might be a good idea to do so. You should give these bottles a wide berth. This is so as they currently are the most costly wines in the world.
The common old hearing that old wine is expensive wine. And I belive its definitely true and you will get my point with the help of my list. The prices are astronomical yet they have been described as some of the best wines on the planet.
1. Chateau Margaux 2009 Balthazar – $4,062
It is considered as one of the best vintages ever produced by its estate. The 2009 Chateau Margaux’s three 12-liter bottles are offered for US $195,000. It is sold by exclusive wine merchant Le Clos in Dubai International Airport.
Only six Balthazar’s have been produced. From these six only three of them are up for sale and those three are all available exclusively through Le Clos. It is housed in a grand case of oak and raised on steel legs. It is with beautiful gold engravings by master craftsmen.
2. Chateau Lafite 1865 – $4,650
The second one on our list is the one which has around 750 ml in every bottle. Lafite is authenticated to be just 150 years old. Do you want a bottle? So, if you want a bottle of this wine, feel free to shell out around $ 24,577, remember it excludes all the taxes. If you are really feeling magnanimous and want to get that wine bottle, you can have it for just around $124,469.
In 2006, a double magnum of this wine was sold for a record $111,625. It was sold at a Sotheby’s auction. The average price per glass? Ummmm, About $4,650.
3. Domaine de la Romanee-Conti 1990 – $20,975
The second one on our list is the one which has around 750 ml in every bottle. Lafite is authenticated to be just 150 years old. Do Talking about the third one, this wine enjoys the good reputation of the world’s finest Pinot Noir. The production of the wine is limited. This is due to the strict yields. Another reason for its limited production is because of the desire to capture the luscious fruit flavors in the berries. It is produced on a tiny parcel of land. On this land, vines are on the average over 50 years old.
Eight bottles of this elegant wine were sold at Sotheby’s for the US $224,900. This took place in 1996.The average price for a bottle of this wine is $20,975.
4. Chateau Mouton-Rothschild 1945 – $23,000
The average price for a 750 ml bottle of this wine is $16,992 and in 2007, a jeroboam of this wine was sold to a bidder at Sotheby’s New York. It is regarded as one of the greatest vintages of the previous century. Now you might be thinking about its price, right? $310,700 or almost $77,675 per 750ml bottle. A jeroboam of this fine wine was bought by an anonymous bidder at Christie’s, London, a decade earlier. The $114,614 is equal to $23,000 per 750 ml.
5. Inglenook Cabernet Sauvignon 1941 – $24,675
Inglenook Cabernet Sauvignon was sold in 2004 for $24,675. This Cabernet is owned by Francis Ford Coppola. Even according to Coppola, it was one of the best he’d ever had. “There is a signature violet and rose petal aroma that completes this amazingly well-preserved, robust wine that had just finished fermentation at the time of Pearl Harbor,” said Coppola.
6. Cheval Blanc 1947 – $33,781
Another one of the most expensive wines in the world is Cheval Blanc 1947. It enjoys the privileged status of being one of only two wines that have been awarded the Class A status in the Classification of Saint-Emilion wine. A three-liter bottle of this fine wine was bought at Vinfolio in San Francisco in 2006. Again coming to its price. It was bought for a wholesome amount of $135,125 ($33,781 per 750 ml).
7. Penfolds Grange Hermitage 1951 – $38,420
Penfolds Grange Hermitage 1951 is considered the most expensive Australian wine.
This is because of it’s price. The cost of this wine is $38,420 per bottle. As per reports, there are just 20 bottles of this wine that exist till the day. In May 2004, a wine collector in Adelaide shelled out a cool AUS$50,200 for a bottle at an auction house. Love for wines I must say.
8. Chateau Lafite 1787 – $160,000
Here I would like to tell you about a bottle of Chateau Lafite 1787 that was linked to Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States. It was sold to Malcolm Forbes in 1985 for $160,000. There were many issues over the provenance of the wine and link to Jefferson. Still, this wine is among the most expensive single bottles of wine ever sold.
9. Chateau Margaux 1787 – $500,000
Margaux is known as the most expensive wine. It is never to be sold. The initial price of the wine was around $500,000. Margaux was authenticated to be once part of the wine collection of Thomas Jefferson.
Chateau Margaux 1787 was accidentally shattered in a Margaux Dinner by a waiter. The waiter knocked the bottle over and broke it. As a result, the Insurers paid out around $225,000.
10. Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon 1992 – $500,000
This is the Grand Royale of most of the expensive wines. Let me give you an example, In a Napa valley wine auction in 2000, this wine got the highest bid. The whopping price tag of the wine was around $500,000.
One wine connoisseur described the wine as: “Exceptionally impressive. Sensational nose of jammy blackcurrants and subtle toasty oak. Stunningly proportioned, ripe, intense fruit, full body, great purity… inner-core of sweet, creamy, highly extracted blackcurrant/cassis fruit. Spectacular.” Now, what else can I say about it?
11. $28,112 – Romanee-Conti DRC 1990
A set of eight bottles earned $224,900 at auction. This auction took place at Sotheby’s London in 1996. Facing towards its reason, one of the prime reasons for super expensive rate of this wine is the extremely low yield of the soil in the area of France where it’s produced. This is so as it takes three Pinot Noir grapevines to make one bottle. If we see the average age of the vines, extending over 1.8 hectares is 53 years. Pinot Noir harvest can produce up to 450 cases of Romanee-Conti DRC wine.
12. Domaine de la Romanee-Conti Romanee-Conti Grand Cru, Cote de Nuits, France, £8,310
According to Experts, this is the perfect Burgundy. They say that in order to claim the appellation Romanée-Conti Grand Cru, the wine must be made from at least 85 percent Pinot Noir grapes. According to, The Archbishop of Paris, it is ‘velvet and satin in bottles.’
13. Henri Jayer Cros Parantoux, Vosne-Romanee Premier Cru, France, £4,894
Henri Jayer Cros Parantoux is produced from grapes. These grapes are grown on a 2.5-acre site. And this Burgundy is said to be full-bodied and rich. As per winesearcher.com, the Henri Jayer Cros Parantoux wines are highly sought after by collectors and command thousands of dollars a bottle. The last vintage of Henri Jayer Cros Parantoux was in 2001.
14. Egon Muller-Scharzhof Scharzhofberger Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese, Germany, £4,577
Now talking about the German wine. This Riesling is produced on the banks of the Moselle River. It is produced in Germany’s Rheingau vineyard. If we talk about German wines, they are some of the world’s most underrated. For this no thanks to the proliferation of the infamous Liebfraumilch and Blue Nun bottles which gained popularity in the Sixties and Seventies. It was given a score of a 100 out of 100 by wine critics in 2010.
15. Joh. Jos. Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese, Germany, £3,415
Here’s the next German entry on the list. This sweet white is produced at a vineyard. This has been in the same family since the 17th century. As per a site, the wine stands out for its ‘finesse and delicacy, rather than its power.’
The grapes from which the wine is produced are grown on the precipitously steep, southwest-facing Wehlener Sonnenuhr slope in its gray slate soil.
So, these were the wines that taste great but quite far from the budget of a normal man. Still, if you ever get a chance, don’t miss, go and grab out. All I can say is, good luck!