How much are you willing to pay for a good bottle of wine? Seems like the price of 84,700 euros for the bottle of wine seemed pretty reasonable to the wine connoisseur and private collector Christian Vanneque.
A Bordeaux Château d’Yquem 1811 became the most expensive bottle of white wine in the world in 2011, sold for 75,000 pounds / 84,700 euros / 123,000 dollars to the wine collector Christian Vanneque.
The wine will be displayed in bulletproof glass, with controlled temperature and humidity in his restaurant, the SIP Sunset Grill in Bali (Indonesia). The British Company of Ancient Wines has indicated that the sale of this wine reached a Guinness record and placed the Château d’Yquem as the most valuable white wine.
What Makes This 1811 Château d’Yquem So Unique and Expensive?
The Château d’Yquem of 1811 is considered one of the best wines in the history of the French region Bordeaux and one of the best white wines ever produced. In 1995 this wine was rated the ultimate 100 points by the wine critic Robert Parker. The main reason why this wine carries a hefty price tag is that it’s made during Napoleonic wars.
Even though the majority of white wines are not meant to age, this bottle of Château d’Yquem is an exception because it is a sweet wine. There are only a few white wines in this world with this kind of qualities. Because of its high levels of sugar and grapes natural acidity, the bottle was able to be stored almost indefinitely without spoiling.
In 1811, about ten barrels of Château d’Yquem were made, and while most of them are exported to Russia, there are only 10 confirmed bottles in existence according to Stephen Williams, managing director of the Antique Wine Company. Before putting the bottle on the market, the Antique Wine Company verified its authenticity and obtained an “inspection certificate” from Château d’Yquem.
The container and label of the bottle were also examined, and compared with paper copies of those issued at that time by the French winery. All these tests served to confirm that the wine was an authentic sample of white Château d’Yquem of the early nineteenth century.
