The Most Expensive Champagne Bottles of All Time
Champagne is known around the world as an indulgent and expensive luxury, although it’s possible to find bottles for less than $10. However, the general consensus is if you want good tasting champagne, you’ve got to pay up. The pricier bottles on the market cost over $100 per bottle, but those who fancy bubbly say the taste is well worth it. However, $100 doesn’t even begin to touch the cost of the most expensive champagne on the planet.
While some may not bat an eyelash at paying $100 for a high quality bottle, very few are willing to pay anything close to $10,000 for the most exclusive champagnes in existence. These bottles typically don’t get their price tags solely from their flavor, but for having extravagant packaging, literally being ancient, or being huge. The latter is especially common with high priced Methuselah bottles, which contains six liters. Here are ten of the most expensive bottles of champagne ever sold.
10. Shipwrecked Champagne –Â an average of $14,181.81 per bottle
There will probably never be any other champagne of this variety found ever again, which is why a case of 11 bottles sold at auction for $156,000 in 2012. The bubbly was discovered by a team of divers who were out near the Baltic Sea in 2010, and when they opened a box they were surprised to see old champagne bottles with their contents still intact. Some of the vintages were more than 200 years old, and they were preserved by sheer luck — had they not been in a horizontal position and under low pressure, they’d have been destroyed long ago.
9. Louis Roederer, Cristal Brut 1990 Millennium Cuvee Methuselah – $18,800
When you consider that a Methuselah of champagne is equivalent to eight normal sized bottles, the price the winner paid at auction for this Louis Roederer Cristal got a decent deal. Apart from its size, this champagne cost so much because of its rarity — just 2,000 bottles were produced.
8. 1928 Krug – $21,200
A world record was broken when this bottle of 1928 Krug was auctioned off in 2009. For its age, the champagne was in excellent condition, although who would actually crack open and drink something so rare and expensive? The winning bidder is better off putting the bottle behind locked and temperature controlled doors and letting its value grow.
7. 1841 Veuve Clicquot – $34,000
This is another bottle of champagne that was found via a shipwreck, but this single bottle alone sold for $34,000. Veuve Clicquot is still a highly sought after brand today, but to find a well preserved bottle of it from 1841 is just about unheard of. The age of this champagne means it’s literally history in a bottle.
6. 1959 Dom Perignon – $42,350 per bottle
Just about every bottle of Dom Perignon is expensive, but the age of this champagne takes its price tag over $42,000 per bottle because it’s now very rare. Finding one is like searching for a needle in a haystack, but this auction lot contained two exquisite and well preserved bottles of bubbly. The winning bid for the pair was $84,700. Because the winner of the auction has two, perhaps they’ll feel more inclined to drink one bottle of champagne and save the other.
5. 1820 Juglar Cuvee – $43,500
The House of Juglar hasn’t existed since the 1840s, so when this champagne was discovered in a sunken ship those who found it knew it was seriously old. After spending so much time at the bottom of the sea, this 1820 Juglar Cuvee came out encrusted with barnacles. However, it still had drink inside of it and the bottle wasn’t broken, and it ended up being auctioned off for the impressive sum of $43,500.
4. 1996 Dom Perignon Rose Gold Methuselah – $49,000
This Methuselah of Dom Perignon rose champagne isn’t terribly old, but it is huge and the bottle is plated with actual gold. It’s one of just 35 bottles produced, so you can’t simply walk into a store and grab some. This particular vintage is said to have a smoky aroma and sharp notes. Hopefully it fully satisfies those who get their hands on it, because the champagne’s price tag is $49,000.
3. 2011 Armand de Brignac 15 Liter – $90,000
Many know Armand de Brignac, or Ace of Spades, because of its association with pop culture — rap legend and business mogul Jay Z owns the brand. However, it’s not this champagne’s backing that justifies its high price. The bigger the bottle of alcohol the more money you can expect to spend, and this bottle contains a whopping 15 liters of champagne. You couldn’t finish it on your own in one sitting, so this is the bubbly to buy if you’re having a huge, ultra-posh party with several hundred of your closest friends.
2. 2013 Armand de Brignac Rose 30 Liter Midas – $275,000
Over the years Armand de Brignac has developed a habit of debuting increasingly large bottles of champagne, and this is one of the largest. The Armand de Brignac 30 liter Midas weighs over 100 pounds and is equivalent to 40 standard sized bottles of alcohol. That’s a heavy load to pick up on your own, but those who can afford this pricey champagne coulc just hire someone to do the lifting.
1. 2013 Taste of Diamonds – $2.07 million
Taste of Diamonds is a champagne that premiered in 2013. Also known as Gout de Diamants, what sets this champagne apart from all others and makes it so expensive is the fact that its bottle boasts a diamond shaped label made of pure white gold along with a large Swarovski crystal in its center. Shammi Shinh, owner of luxe London-based Prodiguer Brands, came up with the idea to make the opulent bottle. Taste of Diamonds is now recognized as the most expensive single bottle of champagne in the world.