World's most expensive white wine sold
A French restaurant-owner has bought the world's most expensive white wine – for £75,000 (NZ$141,000).
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A French restaurant-owner has bought the world’s most expensive white wine – for £75,000 (NZ$141,000).
French private collector Christian Vanneque bought the bottle of 1811 Château d'Yquem for his new restaurant in Bali, Indonesia.
The Bordeaux wine is one of the “Comet Vintages”, named for the Flaugergues Comet which passed the earth in 1811.
Rare wine specialists The Antique Wine Company, who sold the bottle, said the Château d'Yquem had improved with maturity and could age indefinitely, unlike most whites that spoil after a few years.
The purchase made international headlines; from the Guardian in the UK to the US Wall Street Journal.
The Antique Wine Company managing director Stephen Williams said the wine had the capacity to last longer than any other white. Although this bottle has yet to be opened, he said it was likely to have a "butterscotch sweetness".
Mr Williams told the Wall Street Journal the bottle came into his possession in 2007 after he bought the entire cellar of a major European private collector.
Mr Vanneque, who has the biggest wine collection in Indonesia, said he would put the rare bottle on display at his SIP Sunset Grill in Bali when the restaurant launches in September.
The record for the most expensive white wine was previously held by a 1787 Château d'Yquem Sauternes, which came from the same vineyard as the 1811 vintage and costs an average of US$60,000 a bottle.
Mr Vanneque said he would never resell the bottle, "even if a wealthy Chinese gentleman or a rich man from the Middle East offers to buy it. I’m not a fancy collector. I’m not rich. I work very hard. It’s not connected to investing. I’m a sommelier. Wine is for drinking.”
NBR staff
Wed, 27 Jul 2011
Wed, 27 Jul 2011
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World's most expensive white wine sold
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