Seeing the glass full

A special occasion calls for the uncorking of a nice, expensive bottle of wine. Of course, by ‘expensive’, we don’t actually mean having to take out a loan. After all, it’s just wine. But for wine connoisseurs, it’s not just wine. And anyway, ‘expensive’ is a very relative word. Which is why some people are willing to pay thousands of euros for a bottle of wine. And that’s a celebration in itself.

1869 Château Lafite-Rothschild

In 2010, an Asian buyer paid €182,000 for a bottle of Château Lafite-Rothschild bottled in 1869 – that roughly works out at €22,000 a glass. The sale was made at a Hong Kong auction by Sotheby’s.

» 1787 Château Lafite

In 1985, a bottle of Bordeaux was sold for more than €125,000. What makes this Château Lafite so special are the Th.J. initials etched in the glass, which stand for Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States. Jefferson was a keen oenophile – when he was ambassador to France, he visited the vineyards of Bordeaux and Burgundy to stock up on his private wine collection.

1978 Montrachet

A lot of seven Montrachet 1978 bottles from the Domaine de la Romanee-Conti were sold at a New York auction by Sotheby’s for €131,000. This is probably a record price for a white wine and involved some very keen bidding.

» 1945 Château Mouton-Rothschild

In 1987, a jeroboam of 1945 Château Mouton-Rothschild, one of the greatest vintages of the 20th century, sold at a London auction by Christie’s for more than €89,000. The buyer remained anonymous.

1947 Château Cheval Blanc

The 1947 Château Cheval Blanc has an almost cult status with wine connoisseurs – an exemplar was sold at a Geneva auction by Christie’s for €238,000. The wine can still be preserved for another half a century, which ensures that it will not only gain in resale value, but also in taste.

» 1775 Massandra sherry

Built in 1894, Massandra is the oldest winery in Crimea and has been producing the finest of wines for more than a century. The subtropical air climate of the area, some four kilometres from Yalta, and the surrounding mountains create conditions which are perfect for the production of fortified and dessert wines.

The winery also has its own valuable collection. In 2001, a 1775 sherry from the Massandra collection sold at a London auction by Sotheby’s for €34,000.

» 1992 Screaming Eagle Cab

In 2000, this €230 bottle of wine was sold for €390,000, well beyond its market value. However, this was a unique event as the wine was sold at the Napa Valley Wine Auction, which was part of a charitable fund-raising campaign. The bid was won by Cisco Systems executive Chase Bailey.

» 1907 Heidsieck

Not only is this very fine champagne, but its historical value is unsurpassed. In 1907, the freighter Jönköping was on its way to Russia, carrying wines for Tsar Nicholas II. However, the freighter was torpedoed by a German submarine and sank.

Then in 1998, divers located the wreck and discovered nearly 2,000 bottles of the shipwrecked bottles. Most of them were auctioned at the Ritz Carlton in Moscow, where each bottle fetched €215,000.