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This bottle of wine broke all records
A bottle of Romanée-Conti from 1945 broke records at €707,500 at an auction in New York. Why is this wine so exceptionally valuable?
Some bottles you save for a special moment. Others disappear straight into a climate-controlled safe with an impressive price tag. In New York, such a bottle was recently auctioned that belonged more in the 'myth' category than on a wine rack.
*]:pointer-events-auto scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" dir="auto" data-turn-id="request-WEB:f19e3a80-b504-491e-871d-9db7745c639f-18" data-testid="conversation-turn-8" data-scroll-anchor="true" data-turn="assistant">Recently, MASTERS set the most expensive wines ever sold lined upNow there is a new undisputed number one: a 1945 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti that went under the hammer for around €707.500.
The previous number one, also a Romanée-Conti from 1945, sold in 2018 for around $558.000. Even back then, that was a sum that made you wonder if there was still wine in the bottle or if it was purely status. Eight years later, it turns out: you can easily add a generous splash more.
The appeal of this bottle is deeply rooted in its origins. 1945 is considered an almost mythical vintage. It was the last harvest before the estate's vineyards were replanted. By then, the vines had already endured decades of history, from wars to diseases. In total, an estimated only 600 bottles of this vintage rolled out of the cellars. It hardly gets rarer.
Adding to this is the fact that this specific bottle comes from the private cellar of Robert Drouhin, a name that resonates within Burgundy as a mark of quality. In the higher echelons of wine collecting, it is not just about what is inside the bottle, but above all about the story surrounding it.
*]:pointer-events-auto scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" dir="auto" data-turn-id="request-WEB:f19e3a80-b504-491e-871d-9db7745c639f-19" data-testid="conversation-turn-10" data-scroll-anchor="true" data-turn="assistant">Interestingly, this sale was not an isolated incident. The entire auction raised more than €21,8 million and set hundreds of new records. It shows that the market for rare wines is alive and well and that collectors continue to outdo each other effortlessly.
And then the million-dollar question: will such a bottle ever be opened? The chances are slim…
