An Australian winery recently unveiled 12 bottles of a rare vintage for sale at an eye-watering price of Aus$168,000 (€135,275) each, which can only be opened by a specially-trained wine expert.

The wine is held in a unique hand-blown glass “ampoule” designed to provide the ideal environment for the liquor, and this is suspended inside a bespoke glass container which sits inside a wooden cabinet.

When the buyer decides to crack open the high-priced vintage, he or she will have to call out a senior member of Penfolds’ wine-making team, the only person with the correct training to uncork the prized bottle.

The wine expert will travel to wherever the customer is to remove the ampoule from its glass casing and open the bottle using a specially-designed device.

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