It may be little surprise to see Burgundy dominating the price charts, but perhaps more so that Henri Jayer has been heralded the world's most expensive wine rather than Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC), according to a new survey.
A survey of 55,000 wine merchants by the Wine-Searcher site found that the most expensive wine the world was Henri Jayer Richebourg Grand Cru with an average price of US$15,195 per standard 75cl bottle across available vintages.
DRC, often tagged the most expensive domaine in Burgundy, saw its Romanée-Conti Grand Cru come second at $13,314 per bottle. Another Jayer wine came third; Cros Parantoux (Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru) at $8,832.
Burgundy accounts for seven out of the top 10 wines – and 40 out of the top 50 – reflecting the rapid climb in prices for the region’s leading producers over the past few years, driven to a great extent by Asian collectors.
‘As they say in this business, all roads lead to Burgundy,’ said Jeff Zacharia, president of Zachy’s Fine Wine. ‘The fact is that some of these wines are made in such minute quantities, the prices will reflect that rarity.’
Jayer and DRC are two of the most recognisable names at wine auctions in London, New York and Hong Kong; with Asian buyers in particular having embraced Burgundy wines for the first time in the last two to three years.
Sotheby’s claimed an auction world record for a single lot late last year after it sold a 114-bottle cache of Romanée-Conti for US$1.5m. Liv-ex data shows that prices for top Burgundy wines, such as DRC’s Romanee-Conti, have risen by hundreds of percentage points in the past decade, reflecting higher global demand.
Additional reporting by Chris Mercer
