How much would you pay for ultimate wine ?

How much would you pay for best bottle of wine ever

If you knew that the bottle had the best wine youve ever tasted or would ever taste, ie the perfect wine for you what would your price limit be. Doesnt matter what the actual wine is, its whatever you like.

300 bucks would be my max for a 750 cc bottle.

That would be a one off.

175 max for any ongoing love.

Interesting question. I have thought about a derivative, “how much would I pay for a bottle of wine”, and I struggle to pay certain price points because I struggle to justify the price point on price alone. Adding the wrinkle of knowing it was perfect in advance, didn’t get me to move too much higher… which reinforces the ceiling I would pay for a bottle of wine.

No one wine would ever be perfect for me. The next day I might want some other kind of wine. I don’t think I’ve ever paid as much as $100 for a wine and I don’t expect to start now. There are too many wines that give too much pleasure for way less.

MAYBE for a REAL '47 Cheval Blanc ?

This becomes interesting in reverse. I have a number of bottles that I bought cheaply and are worth several multiples of my cost. When Rousseau 1999 Chambertins hit $3000, I sold them. But then 1999 Rousseau isn’t ever going to be that must have bucket list wine.

I based my answer on the 1961 Hermitage La Chapelle, the only wine that I would pay $3000+. It trades for a lot more, but my limit for drinking (or holding on to it) is going to be $3k, and generally I have kept a few expensive bottles but have sold most of my wines when they hit $1000. Frankly far too many great wines for special occasions for less than $300; I am not sure how much increase in my pleasure I would get from spending four figures or more.

And then when the wine turns out to be corked . . .

Would vs could is subjective I suppose, but yeah at present I think the most we could justify in this hypothetical where the wine had perfect provenance and was guaranteed to be in top shape and THE BEST is somewhere south of $1k but maybe above $500. I think the most we’ve ever paid for a bottle of wine is in the $250/bottle range but those come without any guarantee and I really don’t expect those bottles to be the BEST EVER EVER, so only paying 2-3x what we’ve already laid out before for what is essentially a decent odds crapshoot seems justifiable for the best omg perfect so so good amazing i cried evry tiem wine of my dreams.

I think the biggest impediment to putting a value on the experience is that I couldn’t tell you what that wine might be. I haven’t had every wine (obviously), and as we’re young and not wealthy, we haven’t even had many wines most people would consider “unicorn” or “bucket list” wines. Largely because of cost and the crap-shoot nature of buying expensive aged wine, we’ve never had first or second (or third) growth Bordeaux, we’ve never had GC Burgundy from elite-tier producers and very little properly-aged Burgundy of any quality level, we’ve only ever had Krug once and it was a recent release, never had vintage port with any significant age on it, etc etc. Who knows, maybe we would pay $1000+ for an aged-to-perfection DRC or Ch Margaux or Krug, or whatever, but I really have no sense of scale with which to judge. I’ve had wine that curled my toes for sure, but when almost every wine you’ve ever had in your life is <$250/bottle it makes speculation sort of difficult.
When we’ve saved a down payment on a house maybe ask me again

ultimate wine is dead at retail so it doesn’t matter

My roommates and I used to play a game of how much would you pay for attribute “x”.

How much would you pay to be able to run a 4.5 40yd sprint? To have a 50" vertical leap?
How much would you pay to not get sick this year?
How much would you pay to be able to fly? just once? to know some element in your future, etc…

I think it’s a fun question to attribute dollar-based value to things which are by nature not for sale (as in the OP, since we know that the “perfect” wine does not exist)
As such, I took the question to mean “how much would you pay for the best wine you’ll ever drink in your lifetime”. My bucket list wine is 2009 La Tache, which I hope to drink with my wife somewhere around our 50th anniversary. That costs around 3-5k so I’ll save up. Even if the wine isn’t penultimate, it will be worth it to me. My avg wine consumed over the last 5 years is $26. The avg cost of a bottle in my cellar is $67. I’m also not a buyer until some other financial goals are long met.

How much could I flip it for?

So far, we have 2 ballas!

It’s an unusual question. In a way, doing that would remove some of the the fun of being into wine. One would thereafter know what height the best wine achieves and that one would never improve upon it. Would I be allowed to sell shares of the experience? I bet I could get three other people to go in with me, even if the wine were best for me and not necessarily them. Generally though I don’t think I would pay more than $900-999. Some legendary wines are obviously worth more so if one got one of them it would be a good deal, but getting to four figures is crazy. When so many close-to-best song can be had for less. FWIW, mine would probably be Bordeaux.

I put $1,000-$2,000, which for me, puts me into the mindblowing category on some of my all-time favorite wines: 1989 Haut Brion, 1982 Mouton and 1986 Mouton. The only wine I have had that I put above them is 1989 Petrus, and I’m not willing to fork out the extra. If a buddy wanted to split a mindblowing 1961 First Growth or a Jaboulet, I might stretch.

This is an interesting goal! I just did the math, and accounting for price appreciation and inflation, for our 20th wedding anniversary we’d only have to save ~$500/year to be able to purchase and drink a well aged La Tache from a good vintage, which is so negligible I think I’m going to do it. Interestingly though, the NPV of the savings implies that it would only cost 55% as much to just buy the bottle today and cellar it until then, not counting storage costs, but man, dropping almost $5k on a bottle of wine tomorrow is just not happening.

The ultimate wine, the wine to end all wines, to be the pinnacle of my wine drinking life and make every other wines seem inadequate in comparison?

I wouldn’t pay anything for it.

-Al

This is a good reminder to everyone — the best way to chase a super special bottle like this is to go in on with a few friends. You don’t get that much less enjoyment in a third of an 89 Haut Brion than the whole bottle, and you might enjoy it more shared with two other wine lovers. And now it costs you $600 instead of $1800.

Of course, it’s not that simple to get three guys to agree on the same bottle like that, but it’s an idea to keep in mind.

I went to a winetasting not so long
Ago and had poggio Di Sotto brunello
2013 among other brunellos like Salvioni
Cerbaiona.Poggio Di Sotto are the best
Brunello i have ever tasted, but at the
Price of 200$+No thanks

That’s like asking “How much would you pay for the ultimate woman?”.

AR

I would be tempted to pay what it costs to procure a well aged bottle of La Tache, as the '83 that I had a 2 oz pour of at a bottle of pain dinner was the best wine I ever tasted. I have enough extra wine that I could easily sell at auction or to a dealer to pay for an epiphany. Assuming it induced the same experience as the first time it MIGHT be worth it. I am confident assuming it was a good bottle that I would love it. It would not be quite the same as the first time when the amazement of how good it was bowled me over. The second time I would know how good it should be and would be expecting perfection and ready for a treat which is not the same as trying a wine the first time and that wow moment. As I have tried THE bucket list burgundy am probably best of checking off a different box yet unfilled.

Champagne has become my greatest love and I have assembled a very nice collection {which I drink AND age} from good basic wines up to some 96 and 02 Salon and a bunch in between. I have already experienced bubbly in the top 10% of the pack. Wanted to assume a bottle priced at $1000 or higher couldn’t be much different and was based on exclusivity. No doubt Screagle is no better than the finest top wines and if it wasn’t perpetually flappable wouldn’t sell for nearly its tariff. However after chatting with a few friends who have tried the Krug Clos de Mesnil I think I might have to get at least one bottle. One friend itb stated it was the best wine of any type he ever drank. Others I know simply think its the finest Champagne they ever had. Now my curiosity is piqued. Good News its far less expensive than a La Tache and most of all if one looks around one can find aged or semi aged bottles.

If I do procure the CDM it might be an amazing experience and could end of being one of the most memorable wines in my 25 years of exploration. Have already tried all of the top Cali Cabs and have tons in my cellar. The 90 Cheval Blanc was my 2nd reference wine and until I taste a really old gem might continue as king of the hill. Lastly the La Tache mentioned might be the best burg I will ever taste.

Lucky to have tried the epitomies of Cab. Bordeaux, and Burgundy. Why not pursue an Ultimate bottle of Champagne at least once ? Those of you who know me have the answer !

So to answer the question MAYBE $3000-$5000 for a La Tache to enjoy a whole bottle shared with my Mom or gf. What I WILL spend in the next year or two is whatever the best price I can find on Krug CDM, which looks like it will be $800+ depending on age.