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This article was first published 12 years ago

World's most expensive wines

Last updated on: May 12, 2011 18:44 IST

Image: A view of wines on display at Vinexpo, the world's biggest wine fair, in Bordeaux.
Photographs: Regis Duvignau/Reuters

The attraction of these wines is not in consuming but collecting.

These wines sell for exorbitant prices simply because they are rare and that factor appeals to collectors.

Most wines do not last more than 50 years, so almost all of these wines are past their date.

Click NEXT to see the world's most expensive wines

World's most expensive wines

Image: Six-litre bottle sold for $500,000.
1. Screaming Eagle Cabernet 1992 - $500,000

An imperial (six-litre bottle) of Screaming Eagle Cabernet 1992 recorded the highest price paid for a bottle of wine.

But, the price should not be counted as it was sold, in 2000, for charitable purposes.

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World's most expensive wines

Image: 2,000 bottles were salvaged from a ship.
Photographs: Courtesy, Heidsieck & Co
2. Shipwrecked 1907 Heidsieck - $275,000

In 1998, two thousand bottles of Champagne were found from a ship that had been hit by German sub during World War I.

The bottles have been sold all around the world as an historic collectible item.

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World's most expensive wines

Image: French designer Pierre Cardin presents a four-liter bottle of Chateau Margaux.
Photographs: Christine Grunnet/Reuters
3. Chateau Margaux 1787 - $225,000

In 1989, a bottle was estimated to be worth $500,000 by its owner William Sokolin.

The bottle from Thomas Jefferson's collection was never tested as a waiter knocked it down in a hotel.

Insurers paid out $225,000.

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World's most expensive wines

Image: Acker Merrall's president John Kapon poses with a lot of 70 Chateau Lafite Rothschild bottle.
Photographs: Bobby Yip/Reuters
4. Chateau Lafite 1787- $156,450

Publisher Malcolm Forbes paid $160,000 for a bottle of 1787 vintage, which was said to be from late US President Thomas Jefferson's collection and has the initials ThJ etched in the glass.

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World's most expensive wines

Image: An employee poses with an 18 litre melchior of Chateau Cheval Blanc.
Photographs: Luke MacGregor/Reuters
5. Cheval Blanc 1947 - $135,125

This wine is one of only two wines that have been given the Class A status in the Classification of Saint-Emilion wine.

A three-litre bottle was bought in San Francisco in 2006 for $135,125 ($33,781 per 750 ml).

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World's most expensive wines

Image: A bottle from Chateau Mouton Rothschild featuring a label by Pablo Picasso.
Photographs: Chip East/Reuters
6. Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1945 - $114,614

In 1997, a jeroboam of Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1945 was bought by a bidder at Christie's, London.

The $114,614 price-tag equates to almost $23,000 per 750ml (a regular-sized wine bottle).

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World's most expensive wines

Image: View of a Chateau Yquem bottle displayed at the Tour d'Argent restaurant in Paris.
Photographs: Charles Platiau/Reuters
7. Chateau d'Yquem 1787 - $100,000

White wine usually sells for less than red, but 1787 vintage Chateau d'Yquem was sold for $100,000 in 2006.

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World's most expensive wines

Image: It is the oldest known bottle of sherry.
8. Massandra 1775 - $43,500

This wine from Russia's Massandra winery sold at an auction for $43,500 at Sotherby's London in 2001.

It is said to be the oldest known bottle of sherry in the world.

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World's most expensive wines

Image: There are only 20 bottles left.
9. Penfolds Grange Hermitage 1951 - $38,420

There are reportedly just 20 bottles left of 1951 Penfolds Grange Hermitage today.

A collector paid $38,420 at an auction in Australia.

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World's most expensive wines

Image: DRC Romanee-Conti is shown at news conference.
Photographs: Bobby Yip/Reuters
10. Romanee-Conti DRC 1990 - $28,112

A set of eight bottles fetched $224,900 at auction at Sotheby's London in 1996.