World Record Auction Price Set for Wine

The price works out to a bit over US$ 14000 per bottle of the 1978 Romanee Conti. Romanee Conti 1978 long has been selling in the $ 5000 to $10000 range depending on how it has been stored and if you buy it at auction or at a carriage trade wine dealer. Thus the quoted auction price is not too far above the usual, at least until now, price range. The 1985 Romanee Conti has been selling for about the same price as the

1978 for quite a while. The quoted auction price on a per bottle basis is far from a record high. Some of the "Jefferson" first growth Bordeauxs from the late 1700s sold for much more. For instance, Michael Broadbent, at a Christie's auction, auctioned off a single bottle of the "Jefferson" 1787 Chateau Lafitte(sic) for UK Pounds 105000 to Christopher Forbes and it was flown in the Forbes private jet to New York the evening after the auction. This was a world record auction price for a single bottle at the time, but I do not know if it has been exceeded in the several years since that auction.

Of course Romanee Conti has greatly increased in price over the years. The 1970, which is hardly the best year for it, cost me about $US 50 per bottle shortly after release. Now, even it, sells for a thousand or so. I have several bottles of Romanee Conti from back when it did not take a Forbes to buy it. I have 1 1966, 4 1970, 1 1978, 2 1985, 1 1988, and 1 1990. I must say that I find La Tache to be usually nearly as good as Romanee Conti, and sometimes a bit better, and it costs much less(still expensive) than Romanee Conti. But Romanee Conti is more rare and more famous.

No, it hasn't. It's still the record holder. (Btw, the other bidder was Marvin Shanken).

M.