Posts from — December 2009

Some of the most expensive wines are completely undrinkable but their value lies in their collectability and rarity. Below is a list of the most expensive wines ever sold.

A 1787 Chateau sold at auction at Christie’s for $160,000.   It had Th. J etched on to the bottle making it particularly appealing for American collectors and is now part of the Jefferson memorabilia in the Forbes collection in New York. Thomas Jefferson was the third President of the US and one of the most influential founding fathers.   Before becoming President Jefferson was ambassador to France and spent much time visiting vineyards and buying wine for his collection.

In 1989 a New York wine merchant named William Sokolin, was in possession of a bottle of Chateau Margaux 1787, also with Jefferson’s initials, that he was trying to sell on behalf of its English owner. The price being asked was $500,000 but there was no interest and so he took the wine to dinner at the Four Seasons restaurant.   Fortunately he had insured the bottle of wine for $225,000 because at the end of the evening a waiter bumped in to the table causing the bottle to fall and smash.   Sokolin may not have sold the wine but the insurance company did pay out the $225,000 and a lot of publicity was generated around the most expensive bottle of wine that was never sold!

A 1784 Chateau d’Yquem, also with Thomas Jefferson’s initials, sold at Christie’s in London for £56,588 in 1986.

Interestingly there is now some dispute around the authenticity of these wines and two film projects are currently under discussion.

The most expensive wine ever sold in America, a Montrachet 1978 from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti is still drinkable.   The lot of seven bottles sold for an amazing $167,500 (or $23,929 for one bottle) which was an incredible price, even for such a rare wine but was achieved because the two main bidders were so intent on being successful in their bids they got completely carried away and the price just kept on rising.

Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1945 Jeroboam, sold in 1997 at Christie’s to an anonymous bidder.

A 1775 Massandra Sherry sold at Sotheby’s in 2001 for $43,500.

In 1997 at Christie’s in New York, 50 cases (600 bottles) of Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1982 was sold for $420,000.

Six Magnums of Romanée – Conti DRC 1990 was sold at Zach’s in New York in 2002 for $69,000 (or $5,800 per bottle).

Six litres (7 bottles) of Methuselah’s Romanée-Conti DRC 1985 were sold at Sotheby’s in London in 1996 for $224,900.

Three bottles of 1994 Screaming Eagle were sold at Christie’s in LA in 2000 for $11,500 (or $3,833 per bottle).

At a charity auction in Napa Valley in 2000 a bottle of Imperial and Screaming Eagle Cabernet 1992 sold for $500,000 to Cisco Systems Executive, Chase Bailey.   Technically this was the highest price ever paid for a bottle of wine but because of the nature of the sale it was deemed a charitable donation.