What is the most expensive wine in the world ?

Have you ever wondered what could be the most expensive wine in the world? ? Find out what wine it is on Beaux-Vins !

What is the most expensive wine in the world in 2018 ?

This news is an update of 16 October 2018.

A bottle of the famous Domaine de la Romanée-Conti vintage 1945 was auctioned for 558’000$ evening the modest sum of 482’000€ ! The Sotheby’s house in New York, who organized this sale, so broke the record. The sale price is 17 times higher than their estimate of 32’000$.

This bottle is one of the 600 bottles that were produced before the vines were uprooted by the estate for replanting. It is therefore a real step back in the history of this area considered to be the most prestigious in Burgundy., and certainly even the world.

Following this record sale, a second bottle from the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti of the same vintage was this time sold at 496’000$, becoming at the same time the second most expensive bottle in the world. These lots came from the collection of Robert Drouhin who ran the famous Burgundian house Joseph Drouhin of 1957 to 2003.

What was the most expensive previous wine in the world ?

We can easily imagine that big names like Romanée-Conti, Petrus and others Yquem can dominate the ranking of the most expensive wines in the world and yet it is not ! The year, it's an American wine that makes the headlines.

So it is not an Old World wine, nor a vintage vintage of several decades. The year, this is a vintage American Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 and signed Jesse Katz who won the jackpot. This young winegrower, although little known in Europe, is a rising star in the wine world. His wine named The Setting was sold for almost 350’000 $ during the auction at the “Carnivale du Vin” in New Orleans. It’s no less than Emeril Lagasse, American chef and television star who won the precious vintage.

This Cabernet Sauvignon produced in the “Devil Proof Vineyards” vineyard of Jesse Katz, located in the Alexander Valley wine region (California), was created for Shep Gordon, Blondie's manager, des Gipsy Kings, Chef Nobu Matsuhisa or even Pink Floyd. In order to participate in the financing of a nutrition assistance program for underprivileged children, the manager wanted to sign it and then sell it at auction.

What is the most expensive wine in the world in 2017 ?

Called "Wine O’Clock", the online auctions organized by the cabiet expert in sales of exceptional wines Baghera / Wine again broke records. During the last sale organized on 06 June 2017, the prestigious domain of Romanée-Conti has once again exploded the counters. This time, it is a jeroboam of 1999 which was sold for 82,800 Swiss francs, or nearly 76,300 €.

This auction honored the famous house giving birth to one of the best vintages of Burgundy for 1,500 years. In all, 55 cash lots 8 Grands Crus were offered at auction under the sweet name of "Immaculate DRC". The sale ended with a turnover of over one million euros.

Already last February, the estate had broken a record with the auction of a lot of 5 vintage bottles 1999 for nearly 72’000 €.

Michael Ganne, Executive Director of Baghera / wines precise : " In 13 Wine O’Clock, Baghera / wines sold for almost 3,5 million francs worth of wine on the Internet. The recipe for success ? A very qualitative selection of great wines, a careful presentation of thematic collections available on e-catalogs, an easy-to-use and secure auction platform. Today we have enough hindsight to observe that the practices of collectors of prestigious wines have really changed : The Internet has become an essential sales channel for great wines and popular with collectors..

A very rare bottle from the famous Australian estate Penfolds was sold on 19 July 2017 for nearly € 35,158. This is the Penfolds Grange 1951. This collector's red wine with a majority of Syrah, of which there are only twenty bottles left in the world.

Nick Stamford, organizer of the auction in Melbourne said : "It is very rare to reach this kind of sum, but this bottle is part of the history of Australian wine […] We believe this is one of the most expensive wines sold in Australia ".

The Penfolds Estate, has been producing wine since 1844. He is known for his Barn which had been created in 1951 by the winegrower Max Schubert who had previously studied how to make Bordeaux wines. The first officially marketed vintage was the 1952. The vintage 1951 had been given to friends and family of the owners of the group, reason why our wine could be sold for such a high amount.

Since he started, the Penfolds Grange has been awarded several times. The vintage 1990 had received the distinction in 1995 "Wine of the year" by the magazine "Wine Spectator" which, for the first time, did not attribute this title to a French or Californian wine. The 2008 had for his part received influential wine critics, Robert Parker, the maximum score of 100.

It is rare enough to see a non-Burgundy wine break such records to tell you about it here. !