At an auction on Manhattan’s Upper West Side last weekend, a single bottle of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti from 1945 sold for a record $812,500 ( ₹7.63 million crowns).
The sale took place during the annual La Paulée auction organized by Acker, America’s oldest wine merchant and the world’s largest auction house for fine wines.
According to a Forbes report, the sale of a 1945 bottle of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti beat the previous world record for the most expensive bottle sold at auction by nearly 50%.
A bottle of the same old drink from 1945 set a record at a 2018 La Paulée auction, selling for $558,000.
In a statement, an Acker representative said the purchase “cements the 1945 vintage as the most sought-after bottle in the history of wine collecting.”
“We made history”: Acker
“We made history this weekend,” John Kapon, Acker’s chairman, told Business Wire. “I have only had the privilege of tasting the 1945 Romanée-Conti three times in my life and it is the best wine I have ever tasted.”
Kapon said this weekend’s event “illustrated the soul and spirit of Burgundy” – “bringing together the world’s best producers and collectors and creating the perfect conditions for a truly historic result.”
Who brought the record bottle of wine?
Acker did not disclose who bought the record-breaking bottle of wine, but said the wine originally came from Robert Drouhin’s personal cellar, The Post reported.
Drouhin is one of the most famous names in Burgundy and has been running the French wine house Maison Joseph Drouhin for almost half a century.
Why was this wine special?
According to The Post, the 1945 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti was special because it is the last wine made before Romanée-Conti replanted its oldest vineyards, which had survived both world wars.
The vineyard produces only red wine, mostly from the Pinot noir variety, and produces 5,000 to 6,000 bottles per year. However, only about 600 of their annual production were from 1945.
What makes this 1945 wine more special is that it is pre-phylloxera, meaning it was made from grapes that came from vines that were not designed to be phylloxera resistant.
Phylloxera is an insect that destroyed a large part of vineyards in Europe at the end of the 19th century.
Connoisseurs praised this wine for having “unparalleled” depth and complexity.
