$200 with the intention it is an offline with others bringing something of equal value so I can try five more at that price point. I have no intentions of ever drinking $200 bottles by myself. Wish I could afford it.
aren’t those cases of DRCs I have seen in your cellar? Gifts? 
an interesting side question would be “what is the most expensive bottle of yours that you’d be willing to open?” Many of us have bottles that have quintupled (or more) in price–maybe we bought them cheap, but current value is different. I bought 90 La Tache for $233 and I’d open a $233 bottle. But it is worth $4000–a whole different comfort level and a different question.
Six years or so into laying down bottles, my 750 limit is inching up over $150. And with all the praise of Allemand (who I’ve never tried), I’ve been thinking of picking up a bottle of '11 Reynard that I’ve seen locally for $160. But then I think, that’s four ESJ Fenaughty Syrahs right there. Four Wind Gap SC Syrahs. So it’s rare that I take the plunge - more often I successfully rationalize buying more bottles that I like that are priced lower.
Alan: I’m in the financial services business, so I should have a different answer, but the reality is that if I bought it, I’m opening it. I’m on the Screagle list, and while you can debate the widsom or value of that, I open them to drink, even though they are worth a multiple of what I paid. I generally don’t consider the market value of a wine when I decide to open it.
I’m happy to come over and encourage you to consider my point of view, using your LaTache as an example! 
I am still happy to open all my Rousseau Chambertin and Chambertin Clos de Beze because they are still stuck in my mind in original cost and not replacement cost, otherwise, impossible for me to open these old bottles. But I don’t buy new vintages anymore, sadly.
4k buys a ton of wine!
I will take 20 bottles of 2008 Clos Rougeard “Le Bourg” and be happy with.
Not if you’re shopping for Musigny off the list at Per Se or 11 Mad.
RT
Most I’ve spent so far is 180 EUR on Rayas I think. I rarely buy above 100 EUR, the 10-20 bottles I have above 100 are mostly Rayas, a little Chave and a few Bourgognes (Echezeaux, Batard Montrachet).
I may go up to 250-300 for something very specific, but would think twice.
I’ve only once bought some wine (3 misc, older domaine Leroy) with the intent to sell them, but ended up drinking them all. Once I’ve spent the money, I don’t think about it anymore. So chosing between drinking Leroy that I don’t know vs. getting some money I don’t really need was pretty easy.
Alain
I can’t imagine buying wine I have no intention of drinking.
I buy very few daily drinkers now, so the average value of the bottles I buy has gone up dramatically but the number of bottles has plummeted (and will plummet further still as I age).
The most I have ever spent for a bottle (it was this year) was for a pristine (visually) bottle of 1983 Margaux. It was $300. It is hard to conceive of me paying more for a bottle, but I find it equally hard to say I never ever would.
+1
We’ve done this one before, I always like it.
When you bust a cork, have you ‘spent’ the money you spent on the wine or the price the wine is worth at that time?
And if the latter, is it where you could replace the wine in the ‘market’, or where you could sell the wine immediately (including the various hassles and frictions, deducting these from the price)?
The way I view it, and admittedly others will see it differently, is that it is a sunk cost. I don’t think what it might be worth today.
The way I see it, if I sold an appreciated bottle, I’d probably neglect to pay the taxes. Ralph and Nathan would turn me in to the Feds, who would kick my ass and throw me in prison. I’d probably get knifed and die painfully. So every time I drink an expensive bottle, I’ve cheated death.
Lol, I hope when we finally get together to do some cycling - a real bike not one with fat tires and shocks - and drinking, that your online persona is the same as ur offline persona!!