Shocking: these are the five most expensive wines in the world

Did you spend a little more than usual on this year’s Christmas wine? Instead of consulting our budget tips from top sommeliers, did you really splash out at your local wine merchant? Of course, you may be taking a more frugal approach this year, in which case that budget list comes in handy again… Either way, we haven’t seen anything quite as extravagant as these prices this year:

Because each of these five bottles fetches enough to buy a home in the Netherlands. Here they are, in ascending order of price: the five most expensive wines in the world:

Chateau Lafite 1869

When the auctioneers began the auction in Hong Kong, they thought this bottle would go for around €6,600, but an anonymous bidder eventually snapped it up for no less than €190,000. What?! Well, save your astonishment for later, because from here on, things only go uphill…

Heidsieck 1907

First of all: this bottle is no longer drinkable. So why pay the staggering sum of €227,000 for it? Because the ship carrying it was sunk by a German torpedo during the Second World War. The wreck was found in 1997, and two thousand bottles were salvaged. No longer drinkable, but a rock-solid story is what people paid for here. It must be very hard to resist when you’re experiencing a serious champagne craving.

Cheval Blanc 1947

All right, we are talking about a St. Emilion Premier Grand Cru here. And this wine is considered the finest Bordeaux wine ever made. But you have to be an ENORMOUS enthusiast (and swimming in money) to be willing to pay the €252,000 for which an anonymous bidder was allowed to call the bottle theirs.

Chateau Mouton – Rothschild 1945

One of the wealthiest families on earth obviously isn’t going to produce a wine you can find in a shop for a few bucks. Their vineyards produce highly priced bottles as a matter of course, and this Jeroboam-sized bottle costs no less than €256,000. But you do get three liters for that.

Screaming Eagle Cabernet 1992

Yes, I’d scream like an eagle too if I could fork out €410,000 for a bottle of red wine. The wine, which comes from winemaker Heidi Barrett’s Napa Valley vineyard in California, fetched half a million dollars at auction. Even better news: the money went to charity.

Read also:

• Budget Barolo doesn’t exist
• These are the 5 tastiest supermarket liter bottles of wine under €5 (!)
• Why does red wine make you tired?

Source: Ambiance