A bottle of Hermitage La Chapelle 1961 from France's Jaboulet estate has taken the top spot as the most expensive wine sold at auction in a ranking compiled by iDealWine, a global platform for buying, selling and estimating wines, which also reports on the wine market.
A bottle of Hermitage La Chappelle 1961 from the Jaboulet estate sold for $191,146 at auction to an Austrian enthusiast, surpassing its iDealWine estimate by 67 per cent.
While the world's most prestigious wines often hit headlines for fetching astronomical sums at auction, this new leader sends a strong message to the world of wine. In fact, this Rhône Valley wine knocked the world-famous Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC) off the top spot. DRC is a reference in the world of Burgundy wines, known the world over as one of the greatest wine producers and accustomed to its place as leader of the pack.
In fact, this star of the Côte de Nuits wine region accounts for over 75 per cent of the list, along with the Bordeaux estate Petrus. This preeminence at the top of the ranking is explained by a very strong demand and low production volumes from these legendary estates, explains iDealWine. More precisely, DRC has 12 wines in the list. The most expensive was a Grand Cru Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 2009, which sold for$16,041.
Rhône Valley wines are currently on the up in the world of wine. Since the beginning of the year, the wine market specialist saw its WineDex Rhône index jump 5.70 per cent, compared with 5 per cent for the index tracking Burgundy wine prices. The current ranking sees a 1995 Cuvée Cathelin from the Jean-Louis Chave estate, sold for $4,140, take 14th place, while the 2000 vintage, which sold for $3,191, came in 22nd place.
