What is the price of the most expensive wine you have ever tasted? For most of us, the price tag is at more than US$20. For some, the price tag is at US$100 per bottle. In this article we will look at some of the wines in history that had eye-popping price tags on them.
1. Chateau Lafite, 1787 – $156,450
1787 is ancient. This bottle of wine was sold in 1985 for a whopping $156,450. The best Bordeaux bottle is good for about 50 years but 200 years at this price sounds too good to be true. Well, this bottle had the initials Th.J etched into it. The bottle is being attributed to Thomas Jefferson, the third US President, who is a certified oenophile. While serving as an ambassador to France, he often went to Bodeaux and Burgundy in search for wine to add to his cellar. Two other bottles with his initials also had costly price tags on them—a 1775 Sherry at $43,500 and a 1787 Chateau d’Yquem which was sold at $56,588. The price per glass of Chateau Lafite is $26,075
Chateau Lafite, 1787
2. Jeroboam of Chateau Mouton-Rothschild, 1945 – $310,700
While the Chateau Lafite costs around $160K, the Jeroboam, sold in 2007, was a large bottle not the standard one. However, if it was a standard bottle, this wine would only cost $51,783. 1945 ranks as a vintage wine in 20th century standards. Mouton-Rothschild is one of the greatest clarets in the world. The Jeroboam costs $8,631 per glass.
Photo @ travel.cnn.com
3. Inglenook Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, 1941 – $24,675
Sold in 2004, this Cabernet is considered as the most expensive American wine ever sold. Inglenook is now known as Rubicon and is owned by renowned director Francis Ford Coppola, who is said to have an empty bottle on top of his refrigerator. This wine had a signature violet and rose petal aroma and had just finished fermentation during the war at Pearl Harbor. The price per glass for this bottle is $4,113.
Photo @ letitflow.com
4. Chateau Margaux, 1787 – $225,000
This standard 750ml wine bottle rank among the most expensive wines never sold. In 1989, the bottle collided with a tray at a wine dinner and New York wine merchant William Sokolin received $225,000 worth of insurance. Sokolin was actually collecting half a million for the bottle, which is said to be also owned by Thomas Jefferson. The price per glass is $37,500
Photo @ topluxurythings.com
5. Krug, 1928 – $21,200
Bottles of champagne had set records during the last ten years. In 2005, a bottle of Krug 1953 was sold for $12,295. On that same year, a Methuselah Louis Roederer, Cristal Brut 1990, Millenium 2000 sold for $17,625. Then in 2009, a Krug 1928 75cl bottle was sold during the Acker Merall & Condit’s first Hong Kong auction for $21,200.
Photo @ flavorsofthought.com
These are just some of the most expensive wines in history. Would you spend a fortune to have your hands on a vintage wine such as those listed above?
