Wine is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermentation of unmodified grape juice. The natural chemical balance of grapes allows them to ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes or other nutrients or additives. Wine making has been around for centuries and today, wine collections can be worth millions of dollars.

 

Wine - Most Expensive Wines by Category of All Time

 

Most Expensive Regular Sized Bottle:

Chateau Lafite 1787

Sold at Christie's London in 1985 for $160,000, this bottle of wine was purchased by a private collector. The bottle prominently features the initials of Thomas Jefferson etched into the glass, a practice not unusual in the 18th century when large purchases were made direct from the Chateau.

Most Expensive Fortified Wine:

A Jeroboam (5 liters) Chateau Mouton-Rothschild 1945
Wine enthusiasts consider this selection to be one of the finest great vintages of the 20th century. Sold at Christie's London for $114,614.00 in 1997 to an anonymous buyer, 1945 is considered to be one of the exceptional vintage years of the 20th century.

Most Expensive Lot of Wine Sold At Auction:

1775 Sherry from Massandra Collection
This classic wine sold at Sotheby's London for $43,500 in 2002. Prevailing from one of the finest wineries in Russia, Massandra winery is located 4 kilometers from Yalta and houses a collection of over a million bottles of both Russian (containing the Imperial seal), and Western European wines. The oldest in their collection was the Sherry.

Most Expensive Lot Of Wine Sold At Auction:

50 Cases of Chateau Mouton-Rothschild 1982
Fifty cases (six hundred bottles) of this wine were sold by Christie's/Zacky's New York in 1997 for an astounding $420,000.

Most Expensive White Wine:

Chateau d'Yquem 1784 / Chateau Yquem 1787
A bottle of this wine sold for $56,588.00 in 1986 at Christie's London. This bottle of wine also has Thomas Jefferson’s initials engraved on the bottle.
However, the World's Most Expensive Bottle of White Wine was Sold for $110,000 by London-Based Antique Wine Company. The bottle was a 1787 vintage Sauternes from Château Yquem. At over 200 years old Château Yquem is a sweet wine made in Bordeaux from late harvest grapes with a concentration that enables it to mature for many years.
The valuable bottle was originally acquired by the Antique Wine Company from a private collector in France and sold to an anonymous buyer who flew the wine back to the U.S. in a private jet.

Most Expensive Dry White Wine:

Le Montrachet, DRC 1978
Seven bottles of this wine sold at a Sotheby's New York auction for $167,500 or $23,929 a bottle in 2002.

Most Expensive Single Bottle of Red Burgandy:

Romanée-Conti, DRC 1990
Six Magnums of this fine wine sold for $69,600, or $5,800 a bottle.

Most Expensive Lot Of Burgandy:

Methuselah's of Romanée-Conti, DRC 1985
A set of seven of these bottles sold in 1996 at Sotheby's London.

Most Expensive American Wine:

Screaming Eagle 1994
Three bottles of this wine sold in 2000 at Christie's auction for $11,500 or $3,833 a bottle.

Most Expensive Bottle of Wine Ever Broken:

Chateau Margaux 1787
During a dinner, this bottle of wine was knocked over by a waiter before it was opened. Fortunately for the owner of the restaurant, the wine was insured. The insurance company shelled out a whopping $225,000 to cover the damages.

Most Expensive Wine Ever Sold at a Charity Auction:

An Imperial of Screaming Eagle Cabernet 1992
This wine was sold at the Napa Valley Wine Auction in 2000 for $500,000. Chase Bailey, a Cisco Systems executive purchased the bottle, technically making it the highest price ever paid for a bottle of wine. However, due to the fact that the bottle was purchased at a charity event, a significant portion of the price must be discounted due to the charitable contribution.

 

Commonalities

Wine enthusiasts agree that what makes these selections so valuable is their scarcity of quantity. Americans and foreigners alike enjoy collecting old, rare and one-of-a-kind items and wine is no different. As wine collectors continue to consume, the rarest of rare collections will only continue to grow in value and in quality.