WINE

List of the most expensive wines in the world: How much does the most exclusive bottle cost?

The most expensive bottle of wine to date is a Burgundian red Romanée Conti, whose price at auction exceeded half a million dollars back in 2018.

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To drink the most expensive wine in the world, you need to have a good checking account, and perhaps also a great love and fascination (with just a touch of madness) for this drink; after all, the priciest bottle in history was purchased for more than half a million dollars five years ago.

The other bottles of wine that made this exclusive list had price tags that were not much lower than the one that holds the record. Suddenly, spending more than a hundred dollars on a bottle of wine appears like a bargain.

For those who can afford it, or who are simply curious, here is the list of the top five most expensive bottles ever sold.

Romanee Conti 1945

A buyer paid more than half a million dollars for a bottle of the legendary 1945 vintage Burgundian red La Romanée Conti at a Sotheby’s auction in New York in 2018.

In this auction, the house sold two bottles of this vintage, which coincided with the end of the Second World War, and was the last one before the Burgundian vineyard was replanted in Vosne-Romanée. Between the two bottles the cost exceeded a million dollars: $558,000 for the first one and $496,000 for the second. Both belonged to a personal collection.

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Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon 1992

For another half a million dollars, a 1992 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon was sold at another auction, this time for a charity held in 2000. The price of this Californian red exceeded that of any bottle of a Bordeaux châteaux, but the charitable nature of the auction may have played a role in the steep price.

Château Mouton-Rothschild 1945 Jeroboam

A bottle of Jeroboam of Château Mouton-Rothschild 1945, one of the best Bordeaux vintages, sold for $310,000 in 2006. But in this case, the price is a bit skewed, since the size of the bottle is not the typical one, being three liters. No matter this small detail, it is still not within the reach of the budgets of most people.

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Cheval Blanc Imperial 1947

A 1947 Cheval Blanc Imperial sold for a similar price. Its buyer paid about $305,000 at a 2010 Christie’s auction in Geneva. In this case, the price per ounce is also tricky, since the Imperial bottle is not the one typically found in stores, being a hefty six-liter bottle.

Charles Heidsieck Shipwrecked 1907

The best thing about this bottle is its history. It was sold for $275,000 at auction, and the story of adventure behind it could justify its price. It is a bottle of champagne from a delivery commissioned in 1916 by the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II. The ship that carried it did not reach its destination because it was sunk by the Germans during the First World War, and when its remains were found, this bottle appeared from the goods that had survived the shipwreck.

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