World’s most expensive wine for sale

HUNGARY: A Hungarian winemaker in the Tokaj region known for its golden dessert wine is selling a vintage for $40 000 (R558 702) a bottle.

The volcanic Tokaj region in northeast Hungary produces wine made with grapes with “noble rot”, induced by the “Botrytis” fungus that shrivels grapes and concentrates their sugar.

Tokaji Aszu first appeared in literature in 1576, but it was in the 17th century that the wine became a favourite of enthusiasts for its richness and complexity.

It is said France’s Louis XIV, the Sun King, described the wine as “the wine of kings and the king of wines”.

Winemaker Royal Tokaji said the edition is the world’s most expensive wine on release. Other rarities may fetch higher prices at auction.

“We have made a conscious decision to propel what has always been the most valuable product of Tokaj back into a price range where Tokaj wine belongs, with an exclusive, customised presentation,” general manager Zoltan Kovacs said.

So what justifies the whopping price tag for the 2008 vintage, the equivalent of four years of average take-home pay in Hungary or the price of a house in Tokaj?

The bottle is a 1.5-litre hand-blown magnum with a special cork made in Portugal after laser-scanning the neck.

It sits in a lacquered black box, which shines light through the bottle at the press of a button. A longer maturation period adds hints of green tea and rose hip to the flavour.

There are only 18 bottles offered for sale, with the prospect of an increase in value, the wine will keep maturing in the bottle for decades or longer, said wine expert Matyas Szik. “This is what significantly increases the value of this wine as an investment, as the time to deal with these wines in earnest will come 30, 40, 50 years from now, either to taste or to trade.”

The first buyer did not wait that long – shortly after placing the order, an unnamed Chinese investor threw a party for clients where the wine was promptly uncorked, Kovacs said.

The high cost of the wine is also due to the scale of manual labour involved. The grapes are hand-picked one by one for a daily harvest of just 8kg-10kg in a good year. They are stored in containers.

“If we take this bottle, it required 180-200kg of shrivelled grapes to produce the 1.5 litres. So, all in all, it takes about a tonne of green grapes to make this bottle of wine.”