Could a bottle of Penfolds Grange be this year’s most expensive wine? A single 75cl-bottle of Penfolds Grange Bin 1 Shiraz 1951 has sold for $142,131, smashing the previous record set by a wine from this vintage of Australia’s super star fine wine. Consistently delivering impressive returns, Penfolds Grange is still the only southern hemisphere wine to achieve similar levels of demand and value enjoyed by Burgundy, Bordeaux and Napa icons.
Investment wine rarity drives value:
The extremely rare bottle of Penfolds Grange Bin 1 1951 is thought to be one of only 35 bottles remaining in existence in the world, roughly half of which are part of complete sets spanning 1951 – 2016 vintages. Only three to four barrels were made of the inaugural 1951 vintage and most of the bottles were gifted to friends by Grange’s visionary wine-maker, Max Schubert. After the Penfolds Board rejected the wine, insisting the project was terminated, Schubert spent the next decade working on it in secret and this year marks the 70th anniversary of the legendary label.
Acquired by a Sydney-based collector, the bottle is signed by Max Schubert, who also recorked the bottle in 1988 at the Magill Winery. The auction sale by Langton’s saw a 30% increase on the previous record sale of $103,000. Tamara Grischy, Langtons Head of Auctions, commented that “This is a ‘unicorn wine’ and one of the finest bottles we’ve ever seen come through at Langtons”.
Petrus Power Parcel – 72-vintage vertical:
Another fine wine legend making the news this month is Petrus. An extremely rare 72-vintage vertical of Bordeaux’s Right Bank icon has been assembled by San Ysidro Ranch’s Stonehouse Restaurant in Santa Barbara, California. This extraordinarily valuable Petrus assembly is the largest restaurant collection of Petrus in the US. Diners are able to select a bottle from the vertical, which has been assembled for an undisclosed sum. Some potential indicator of the overall value of the Petrus parcel is provided by the price tag of a bottle of Petrus 1945 for $38,500. but on the more affordable end of the wine list you could enjoy the 1977 vintage for just $5,300.
For more information on ‘unicorn wines’ and investing in a fine wine icon, see our Guide to Investing in Fine Wine and call our expert team on 0203 384 2262.