M L
THE CURIOUS QUAFFER
IS THE SKY THE LIMIT ?
According to Liv-ex ( the global marketplace for the fine wine trade ) 2022 saw fine wine prices outperformed mainstream equities over the course of the year . In fact its benchmark Liv-ex 100 index rose by 7.1 % in sterling currency in the first 11 months of 2022 , despite dipping in November .
The performance of fine wine prices in 2022 was notably led by top Burgundy and Champagne brands . But , how expensive can a bottle of wine actually be ? Generally speaking the most expensive wines on sale today , although often very hard to find , are those from Burgundy , from the most prestigious Bordeaux properties , Sweet Mosel Riesling wines and Napa Valley reds .
Take the 2005 vintage of Romanée-Conti , Grand Cru , Domaine de la Romanée-Conti , Burgundy as an example of the sort of prices that wines at the top end of the fine wine market can fetch . It is currently on sale at around the £ 33,600 a bottle mark , with the 2016 and 2017 vintages of the same wine at around the £ 26 - £ 27,000 a bottle mark . According to Wine Searcher ’ s list of the world ’ s top 50 most expensive wines the average price for Domaine Leroy ’ s ‘ Musigny Grand Cru ’ is now £ 32,297 a bottle ; for Leroy Domaine d ' Auvenay Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru the average price is £ 23,427 a bottle and for Domaine Georges & Christophe Roumier ’ s ‘ Musigny Grand Cru ’ the average price of a bottle is now £ 17,079 a bottle . The fact that these are only average prices , that cover multiple vintages of the same wine , means that some vintages of these wines will be fetching far higher sums , on sale , than these quoted average prices . In fact the list , when we talk about the huge amount that some fine wines can fetch when they are sold , goes on and on .
So , when it comes to fine wine and the best of the best , we are talking about big money . For those with the money , with deep pockets , to buy such wines there are a number of very prestigious , and very expensive , wines out there to buy . The difficulty is often finding them . They are rare and often extremely difficult to source .
Yet , it is at auction that we find the most expensive of the expensive :
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti ‘ Romanée-Conti ’ ( 1945 ) - In October 2018 two standard 75cl bottles of this wine were sold at auction by Sotheby ’ s in New York . The hammer for the first came down at $ 558,000 , setting a new world record , quickly followed by the second at $ 496,000 . The original estimate was $ 32,000 for each ! In today ’ s terms , with sterling still struggling somewhat , that equates to somewhere in the region of £ 452,000 and £ 401,500 a bottle . Assuming that a standard bottle of wine holds five glasses of wine ( each one holding five fluid ounces ) – then £ 90,500 and £ 80,300 a glass !!
Why so much ? Firstly , the name of the estate , the vineyard and the wine itself are all iconic the world over - the crème de la crème in the world of wine . The vineyard itself is a single 4.47 acre plot planted with the pinot noir grape . It nestles in the tiny , beautiful , village of Vosne Romanée just outside Beaune . You can visit the vineyard , as I have , and will discover that it is not fancy and looks , to the naked eye , like many of the other vineyards in the area .
Secondly the 1945 vintage in Burgundy was a legendary one . A stellar and , some would say , the perfect vintage . Thirdly only 600 bottles of the wine were produced . The harvest tied in with the end of WW II in September 1945 , following which the vines were pulled up and replaced . The next vintage of the wine was not then produced until 1952 . Fourthly , over many years , the 600 bottles of the perfect wine , from one of the greatest estates and from one of the best wine producers in the world , started to gradually disappear ( after being consumed no doubt ). We end up with what is known in wine circles as a ‘ unicorn wine ’ ( like the mythical unicorn , they are extremely rare and hard to find ). By 2018 it had become super scarce - a real collector ’ s item , an icon and something that either very few people , or possibly nobody , would ever be likely to get their hands on again . Finally provenance – a huge issue in the world of fine wine today , particularly with wine fraud on the increase . Here the wines on sale were from the private cellar of the famous Robert Drouhin . Immaculate provenance for an iconic ‘ unicorn ’ wine . To cap it all , shortly after the two bottles were sold , three bottles of 1937 Romanée-Conti were then sold for $ 930,000 ($ 310,000 a bottle ). Not a bad day for everyone involved , I guess ?
Château Cheval Blanc ( 1947 ) - This wine was auctioned in 2010 by Christie ’ s and was considered by many to be one of the best wines ever made . It was purchased by an anonymous private collector for $ 304,375 . The bottle was a very rare Imperial ( otherwise known as a Methuselah - a six litre bottle ) and therefore the equivalent of eight standard bottles ( so effectively $ 38,046.87 per standard bottle ). Notwithstanding it , at the time , set a new world record for a single bottle of wine sold at auction . Yet again it was a very old vintage and a very rare wine from one of the most prestigious wineries in the world .
The properties own website probably can ’ t be improved here : “ 1947 is considered a miraculous vintage , the greatest Cheval Blanc of the 20th century . It is both very powerful and extremely well-balanced . Due to its high percentage of alcohol , combined with some residual sugar , many tasters consider this wine totally extraordinary and unique in the world of wine . Despite its age , it is in spectacular form and utterly fascinating ”. No wonder someone paid a fortune for six litres of the stuff !
Château Lafite ( 1869 ) - But sip by sip , glass by glass , the 1947 Château Cheval Blanc did not match the HK $ 1.8 million ($ 230,000 ) per standard bottle achieved when a bottle of 1869 Chateau Lafite-Rothschild went under the hammer at Sotheby ’ s in Hong Kong a short time later . In fact , an anonymous businessman purchased three bottles of this wine for the equivalent of $ 690,000 . At today ’ s exchange rate we are talking about £ 187,000 a standard bottle – or about £ 37,400 a glass ! According to various media sources the bottle was only expected to fetch $ 8,000 !
Again , this was purported to be an exceptional wine and , again , extraordinarily rare . The 1869 vintage of Château Lafite was also reported to be the first to be Château bottled and marked the first vintage when
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