Highest price ever paid for a bottle of white wine, approx $123,000 US

[FLPanhandle]

LONDON (Reuters) - The sale of a 200-year-old bottle of white wine for 75,000 pounds has set a new Guinness World Record for the most valuable bottle of white wine ever sold. The buyer of the 1811 Château d'Yquem was private collector Christian Vanneque, former head Sommelier at the Michelin starred La Tour d'Argent restaurant in Paris.Though Château d'Yquem is famed for being one of the finest and most expensive sweet white wines, the 1811 vintage has a particular attraction for wine enthusiasts. The climatology of the year, reviews from tastings, as well as the auspicious appearance of the Great Comet in that year, all indicate an excellent wine. "This wine is very special -- it is attached to the most renowned white wine in the world, and it was produced in the year of the Great Comet, which was believed to enhance the quality of the wine," Vanneque told Reuters. "It is a rare wine, which been tasted on three occasions and each time received five out of five stars," he added. "It was not just purchased as an investment - it is also going to be an enjoyment." "I did not know it was the most expensive white wine ever sold when I purchased it, but I did know it was the most expensive wine I had ever paid for." The high concentration of sugar in Château d'Yquem means it has a drinking life which far outstrips that of other wines. The wine will be displayed in a bullet-proof, temperature and hydrometrically controlled showcase for six years at his restaurant, the SIP Sunset Grill in Bali. "I will open it in six years to mark the 50th anniversary of when I began work in Paris and share it with my wife, brothers and friends -- I already know what the menu will be," Vanneque said. The private sale was by the Antique Wine Company, which had also held the previous record for white wine -- an 1887 Château d'Yquem at $100,000. "I always have a tear in my eye when I sell a bottle of wine but I'm comforted by the knowledge that it has been purchased by someone passionate about wine and it's going to a good home," said company Managing Director Stephen Williams.



Somehow the fact that it's not an investment and the guy plans to open and drink it with friends and family makes me like this story.

[alcibiades_mystery]

1. I agree

The guy worked for 44 years doing his thing in a tough industry, and excelled at his job. This doesn't strike me as any more extravagant than taking a $100,000 trip around the world when one retires. Some people like travel, he likes wine. So what?

[FLPanhandle]

2. It would suck if the bottle had gone bad though.

Quite a risk.

I agree, he worked his whole life in the industry, let him enjoy a final (and expensive) toast.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

3. I don't see anything overly bad happening here.

No resources are being futilely wasted. Money is going from a rich guy to another rich guy (and I hope taxes are being paid on the transaction!) for a small object that's been sitting somewhere for 200 years.

It's not like a sheik building a ski slope in the middle of the desert or anything.

[Xithras]

4. That's the darkest "white" wine I've ever seen.

The oldest white in my cellar is about 10 years old, and it's as white as it's ever been. Does white wine darken when it gets really old, or has the definition of "white" wine changed over the centuries?

[dana_b]

6. that's what I was thinking too

weird.

[Xithras]

7. Well, I did a little looking....

I found several references stating that white wine does indeed begin to darken as it ages. Interestingly, they all ALSO stated that once a white wine turns "amber or brownish", it's gone bad and should just be tossed.

The wine in that picture definitely looks "brownish".

[badtoworse]

9. I believe that is true, in general...

But Sauternes are an exception. Most white wine is meant to be consumed young (within a few years of its bottling). Great Sauternes (and Chateau d'Yquem is probably the greatest) can age for many years and improve. 200 years might be pushing it though.

[Xithras]

13. Interesting.

I've never really tried to age a white, because I've always been told that it's generally a bad idea (I have a 1998 Australian Reisling in my cellar that was aged "accidentally" because it was unintentionally placed under two bottles of Bordeaux). I've never really looked into the how and why of it though.

I also never knew that Sauternes were an exception to this. I generally keep a few bottles of Chateau Grillon (an absolutely delicious wine, and another Sauternes) in my cellar, and have always consumed them within two years of buying them, assuming that they needed to be treated like any other white wine. I'll probably keep doing that though, because I don't have the budget to buy it by the case, and I like them too much to just let them sit around and "age" :)

[HopeHoops]

5. If you pay that much for a bottle of wine, you better get one HELL of a fuck the night you use it!!!

[Ikonoklast]

10. I think he got fucked already.

Expensive Wine does not always equal Good Wine.

[KurtNYC]

12. White wine over 2 years old is good for cleaning windows n/t

[badtoworse]

20. As I noted above, Sauternes are an exception...

The whole article is interesting, but if you're only interested in the age worthiness of sauternes, skip to the section, "Wine Style and Serving" near the bottom.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauternes_(wine)

[gratuitous]

8. So, who were the lobbyists at Cantor's table when the bottle arrived?

Oh, different bottle of expensive wine. Never mind.

It would be a supreme irony, however, if M. Vanneque got hit by a delivery truck the week before his scheduled soiree.

[whatchamacallit]

11. The direction the dollar is heading, that'll soon be the price of a bottle of 2 Buck Chuck

:)

[Terry in Austin]

14. The meal that goes with the wine

Whale fin soup
Panda liver pate
Roast whooping crane confit with rhino horn mango chutney

Bon goddam apetit, I reckon -- maybe next time he and his friends can get together over some barbecued peasant!

:spank:

[Xithras]

15. Why would you say that?

Wine, unlike the "dishes" you mentioned, hurts nobody.

The guy has spent his entire life working in the industry, and spent a huge sum to buy a very special bottle to celebrate his half century long career. Why would you begrudge him that?

[Terry in Austin]

18. Sheer cussedness, maybe

I see somebody drinking a 100-grand bottle of wine, I see world-class conspicuous consumption. YMMV.

I happen to appreciate good wine, too, but the trafficking of it among high-rolling collectors kind of makes a mockery of it. At that level, it's not really about the wine, but something else.

[Buns_of_Fire]

17. Ah, such a waste.

A bottle of wine Like No Other should be served with only the very FINEST post-revolutionary cuisine, like:

Bush Bouillabaisse
Crepes d'Blankfein
Roast Rump of Trump
Koch Custard with Grover Gratings

[Terry in Austin]

19. Mmm. Superb menu!

:thumbsup:

[treestar]

16. Things like this amaze me

How it can possibly be worth that much.