Winemaking, both in Russia and abroad, brings good income. For example, the average cost of a bottle of wine in Moscow in 2018 was 389 rubles, and in the country - 324 rubles. But collectors possessing the most expensive bottles of wine in the world, only laugh at such prices. They paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for their treasures.
Here are the top ten most expensive wines in the world according to the Wine-Searcher database and other sources. You may want to drink a glass or two of grape juice as you read. Well, this is both healthier and cheaper than shelling out hundreds of thousands of dollars (for your convenience, we converted the price into rubles at the exchange rate at the time of this writing) for a wine that could have lost its properties long ago.
10. Chateau d'Yquem 1811 - $ 117,000 (7.7 million rubles)
One of the greatest wines in the history of Bordeaux was born in 1811 at the French winery Château d'Iquem.
Much outlived by its creators, the Chateau d'Yquem bottle was sold in 2011 for £ 75,000 ($ 117,000) to private collector Christian Vanneck. It is currently the most expensive bottle of white wine in the world. And, perhaps, already empty.
9. Chateau Lafite 1787 - $ 156,450 (10.3 million rubles)
Publisher Malcolm Forbes shelled out nearly $ 160,000 in 1985 for a 1787 bottle of Château Lafitte red wine believed to have come from the cellar of the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson. This is proved by the initials Th.J. engraved on it. One of the founding fathers of the stronghold of democracy was a great connoisseur of strong drinks and possessed an impressive collection of wines, which are successfully sold by connoisseurs of money. However, the authenticity of this bottle is controversial, and experts are divided on this issue.
The loud history of Chateau Lafite 1787 did not end after the sale. Forbes exhibited his prized possession in a collection dedicated to Thomas Jefferson; however, the bottle cork, unable to withstand the light of the lamp, dried up and fell inside. Frustrated, Forbes immediately called wine expert Michael Broadbent, who at the time was head of the Christie’s wine department. Broadbent's advice was simple and ingenious - just insert a new plug. All these events only added fuel to the dispute about whether this wine can be considered authentic, or whether the engraving on it is a skillful forgery.
8. Penfolds Limited Edition Ampoule - $ 168,000 (11.1 million rubles)
It is the most expensive wine sold directly from the winery. And those who can't afford it can buy a glass for as little as $ 850.
Unlike other participants in the wine rating, this wine in a very original packaging is an exclusively commercial product from the most famous winery in South Australia.
Wine tasting is a very exciting process in itself; and to make it truly unforgettable, each "ampoule" containing the precious liquid comes with a glass tip that must be broken off in the right way. The buyer is assisted in this by specially trained personnel of the winery.
7. Chateau Margaux 1787 - $ 225,000 (14.9 million rubles)
The story of one of the most expensive wines in the world had a tragic ending. This bottle of Chateau Margot once belonged to Thomas Jefferson and was estimated by the insurance company at $ 225,000.
Its last owner, William Solokin, a wine merchant, brought his alcoholic jewel to a dinner party at the Four Season Hotel. And there the careless waiter broke it! According to another version, the bottle was accidentally broken by Solokin himself, when his bag with Chateau Margaux 1787 inside hit a serving table.
Be that as it may in reality, the insurance company paid Solokin a quarter of a million dollars for a drink that he will never taste again.
6. Chateau Lafite 1869 - $ 230,000 (15.2 million rubles)
Chateau Lafite is a wine estate in France that has been owned by members of the Rothschild family since the 19th century. And just as the Rothschilds are considered one of the richest people in the world, Château Lafite wine is considered one of the most expensive alcoholic drinks available only to the golden billion.
In 2010, Sotheby’s auctioned three bottles of Chateau Lafite with divine nectar from the 1869 harvest. For each of them they asked for 230 thousand dollars. All three lots were purchased by one buyer, and how much he paid for them - you can easily calculate yourself. Now the new owner can enjoy the high-value drink by emptying the first two bottles and leaving the third one to everyone's envy.
5. Shipwrecked 1907 Heidsieck - $ 275,000 (18.2 million rubles)
A batch of this noble drink of the 1907 harvest was intended as a gift to the last Russian Tsar Nicholas II. However, she did not reach her destination, as the ship that was carrying champagne for the Russian Imperial Court was sunk by a German submarine during the First World War. It was only in 1998 that divers found a valuable sunken cargo off the coast of Finland. Alas, it was not included in list of the best champagne according to Roskachestvo, since it is not designed for the mass consumer.
Now unknown lucky ones breathe this wonderful scent of history.
4. Cheval-Blanc 1947 - $ 304,375 (20.2 million rubles)
Spring-autumn 1947 was exceptionally hot from early April to October. Harvesting at the Chateau Cheval Blanc winery began on September 15, when the air temperature was even higher than 35 degrees, and was completed quite quickly. These hot conditions meant that 1947 Bordeaux wines reached uncharacteristically high levels of natural sugar.
In 2010, one of the best creations of the art of viticulture - the Cheval Blanc vintage of 1947 - passed into the hands of a private collector, who laid out over 300 thousand dollars for it at Christies auction.
3. Chateau Mouton Rothschild Jeroboam 1945 - $ 310,700 (20.6 million rubles)
The label of this wine bears a gold "V" sign, denoting the victory of the USSR and its allies in World War II. But not only the sign determined such a high price of the bottle. It's all about its large size. If this one had a standard 750 ml capacity, it would have sold for only $ 51,783.
2. Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon 1992 - $ 500,000 (33.1 million rubles)
One of the most expensive wines ever sold. And if other elite alcohol only grew in price as it got older, then the Screaming Eagle of the 1992 harvest, at the time of sale, had not yet celebrated its tenth anniversary.
A king-size bottle of Screaming Eagle (six liters) sold for a whopping half a million dollars in 2000 at a charity auction in the famous Napa Valley vineyard. It turned out to be affordable for Chase Bailey, the ex-head of Cisco Systems.
1. Romanee-Conti Grand Cru - $ 551,314 (36.6 million rubles)
Some people spend more than half a million dollars on the most expensive wine called Romanee-Conti, vintage 1945. The 73-year-old bottle of French Burgundy put up for auction at Sotheby's in 2018 was initially estimated at $ 32,000. And the final price for a bottle of the most expensive wine exceeded the initial one by more than 17 times.
Romanee-Conti is the "king of collection wines" and 1945 is his most expensive vintage. At this time, only 600 bottles were produced and this was also the last year in which the older, preferred vines were used.
According to Sotheby’s, the best 1945 Romanee-Conti bottles are "so concentrated and exotic that they have seemingly eternal power - this wine is at peace with itself."We can only hope that the person who saw fit to spend so much on a bottle of alcohol is also at peace with himself.