What is the most expensive wine in the world?
Quick answer
The most consistently expensive wine in the world is Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC) Romanée-Conti Grand Cru, which averages over USD 20,000 per bottle. The all-time auction record was set in 2018 when a bottle of 1945 Romanée-Conti sold for USD 558,000 at Sotheby's.
Detailed answer
If money were no object, which wine would you pour? The crown has belonged to the same estate for decades: Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC) in Burgundy, whose flagship Romanée-Conti Grand Cru averages over USD 20,000 a bottle.
Why so expensive? Start with scarcity. The Romanée-Conti vineyard covers just 1.81 hectares — about the size of two football pitches — and produces roughly 3,500 to 5,000 bottles a year. Compare that to a top Bordeaux like Château Lafite Rothschild, which makes around 200,000. When supply is that tiny and global demand is enormous, prices soar.
The all-time auction record belongs to a single bottle of 1945 Romanée-Conti, which sold for USD 558,000 at Sotheby's New York in October 2018. That vintage is legendary because it was the last one made from pre-phylloxera vines before the vineyard was uprooted and replanted in 1947. Only about 600 bottles were ever produced.
Other wines that regularly feature among the world's most expensive include Pétrus from Pomerol, Screaming Eagle from Napa Valley, Leroy Musigny Grand Cru, and prestige Champagnes like Dom Pérignon Plénitude P3. In the dessert wine category, a bottle of 1811 Château d'Yquem once sold for GBP 75,000.
For anyone curious about wine as an investment, the Liv-ex Fine Wine 100 Index — which tracks the prices of the most traded fine wines — has returned roughly 8-10 % annually over the past thirty years, outperforming many traditional asset classes. But as any collector will tell you, the best investment is a wine you actually want to drink.