Last year was a record-breaker for wine auctions, leading to some spectacular sales of the most expensive wines in the world. In October 2018, auction house Sotheby’s sold a bottle of 1945 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti for an extraordinary $558,000. This was more than 17 times the highest pre-auction estimate of $32,000.
Jamie Ritchie, head of Sotheby’s Wine, says: “The new world-record established in today’s sale is further proof that the demand for wine and spirits of exceptional quality is at an all-time high, and that global collectors are willing to go the extra mile to acquire the rarest bottles of any kind.”
Most expensive wines of 2018
Using data from the Wine-Searcher database, here are a few more of the most expensive wines on the global market.
Domaine Romanee-Conti (or ‘DNC’ as it’s known to wine collectors), always reaches the highest prices in the wine world. Based in Burgundy, its top vineyard covers only 4.5 acres. With an average price of $19,702, the maximum price was the above-mentioned $558,000.
The priciest white wine in the world is Egon Muller’s Scharzhofberger Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese, from Germany’s Mosel region. The Muller family have been making wines in their Mosel vineyards since 1797. At an average price of $13,220, this Riesling has gone for $33,883.
A very old, fortified wine from Portugal, JS Terrantez Madeira, sells for a maximum of $9,499 with an average selling point of $8,285. Still drinkable, this wine was made in the same year that Thomas Jefferson made his second term as US President in 1804.
Biodynamic farming techniques behind expensive wines
Another offering from Burgundy’s Domaine Leroy, the Musigny Grand Cru is made using biodynamic farming. With an average price of $19,702, the maximum it has reached is $551,314.
Georges & Christophe Roumier Musigny Grand Cru has an average price of $12,882 with a maximum of $25,222. The Roumier territory was established in 1924 by Georges Roumier. When he died in 1965, his grandchildren Christophe and Jean-Marie Roumier took over and today the estate consists of 28.5 acres in the Corton-Charlemagne, Morey Saint-Denis and Chambolle-Musigny regions of Burgundy in France.
These are just some of the most expensive wines from last year. It will be fascinating to see which wines make the 2019 list.
