What are the most expensive wines ever sold?
Which are the most valuable wines ever acquired and can they inform investors about future ‘unicorn’ wine investments?
1.A Mig-designed ape-clad magnum of Avenue Foch 2017 Champagne
Raised US$2.5M at auction in July 2022 and became the most expensive wine ever. But it wasn’t simply about the wine, but a marriage of art, wine and digital tokens.
Designer, Mig, famous for his Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, collaborated with luxury Champagne investor, Shammi Shinh, to create Avenue Foch 2017, bottled in a unique magnum embellished with Mig’s Bored Ape Mutant artwork. The accompanying NFT also granted the two new owners, Italian brothers Giovanni and Piero Buono, with the digital art and intellectual property rights to the bottle imagery.
Shammi Shinh’s Avenue Foch Champagne is produced by Allouchery in Chamery and is sold only by NFT, an earlier one-off ‘Taste of Diamonds Champagne’ sold for US$1.9M in 2013.
2. Chateau Petrus 2000, ‘cuvee de la space’
With a US$1million price tag. A space-aged bottle of the iconic Petrus 2000 was sold by Christies in a private sale with an estimated US$1M price tag in May 2021. Just one 75cl bottle from a case which spent more than a year on the International Space Station was encased with another earth-bound Petrus 2000 in a unique trunk designed by Maison d’Artist Ateliers in collaboration with French street artist Cyril Kongo. The final transaction price for this truly unique combination of wine, art and craftmanship hasn’t been disclosed.
3. The Setting Wines 2019 Glass Slipper Vineyard.
A 6-litre bottle raised US$1million at auction. A 6-litre bottle sold for US$1million at a charity auction in November 2021. The unique bottle format in a vintage which produced only 900 bottles (75cl) was a rare opportunity with value boosted by well-intentioned fund-raising.
4. DRC Romanee Conti 1945 (75cl) – US$558,000.
An extremely rare bottle (75cl) of the 1945 vintage, which produced just 600 bottles in total, was sold at auction to an Asian collector in Autumn 2018. A second bottle was sold at the same sale for US$496,000.
5. Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon 1992 raised US$500,000.
An Imperial (6-litre) bottle of the first Screaming Eagle vintage to be championed by Robert Parker Jnr as sold in a record-breaking sale at the Napa Valley charity auction in 2000 further boosting the profile of the US’s most iconic investment wine.
6. Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1945 – US$310,700
Was paid for a Jeroboam of this extremely rare vintage in 1997. Mouton Rothschild is famous for its artist-commissioned bottle labels, and the 1945 edition by Philippe Jullien features a vine-clad Churchillian V sign to symbolise the WW2 victory by the allied world.
7. Chateau Cheval Blanc 1947 – US$304,375
Was paid for a single 75cl bottle. Labelled by some connoisseurs as the ‘wine of the century’, the 1947 vintage was extremely hot and this great St Emilion Classe A estate’s vines produced a one-off vintage alcohol content of 14.4% ABV. Referred to by the winemaker as ‘an accident of nature’, it was an extremely valuable one!
8. 1907 Heidsieck Champagne – a single bottle (75cl) raised US$275,000
From a ship-wrecked stash sunk by a German submarine in WW1. The wreckage was discovered in 1997 and 2,000 bottles salvaged, but not all in the great condition of this bottle. The collector appeal of the history combined with a great Champagne attracted this stunning sum.
9. Chateau Lafite Rothschild 1869 – US$230,000
The auction price paid for an extremely rare, single bottle (75cl), of the iconic Bordeaux First Growth, smashing the pre-sale estimate of $8,000.
10. Chateau Margaux 1787 – US$225,000
The price for a bottle once owned by Thomas Jefferson, and which on being served at a Four Seasons Hotel, was knocked over by a waiter – the insurance company paid out the princely sum of US$225,000.
The list can go on and the common theme is excellent wine of course, but rarity drives the headline grabbing valuations of these wines. Investment wines are achieving strong growth over shorter terms, but to make really impressive returns, treat your fine wine as a long-term investment.
For some insight on Inheritance Tax planning and fine wine, see our special Tax Report and to get details on the best wines with small supply for a longer term investment, speak to our specialist team on 0203 384 2262.