World’s Most Expensive Bottle of Wine Sold

A rare six-litre bottle of 1947 French ‘Cheval-Blanc’ white wine was sold to a private collector at $304,375, marking a world record price for a single bottle, Christie’s said Tuesday.

“We are absolutely thrilled with the result achieved by the bottle of the mythical Cheval-Blanc 1947 wine, which was sold for 304,375 US dollars [223,967 euros] against an estimate of 150,000 to 250,000 dollars to an anonymous collector,” said Michael Ganne, an expert at the auctioneer’s wine department.

“Probably the only known existing ‘imperial’ of this wonderful Bordeaux, it sets a new world record price for a bottle of wine at auction,” he added.

An ‘imperial’ is a six-litre bottle.

According to the expert, who has had the pleasure of tasting the much coveted Saint-Emilion vintage, it was “without doubt one of greatest Bordeaux of all time, not only for its rare quality but also by its longevity, in the sense that it could be kept for another 50 years”.

The wine was put under the hammer by a Swiss collector, and had been rebottled by Chateau Cheval Blanc, AFP reports.