There are hard-to-find wines, and then there are these wines.
Whether they’re locked away in some billionaire’s subterranean cellar, buried deep in Michelin-starred restaurant wine lists, or the last remaining bottles at auction being eyed by collectors with black AmEx cards and quicker Wi-Fi, these wines have crossed into mythical status. Their rarity can be a product of time, provenance, tiny production runs, or even market-mania fueled by pop culture appearances or celebrity affiliation.
Prices quoted below are per bottle. Just saying, so there’s no confusion at check out.
I decided to include examples from a number of different wine regions so as to better represent the entire world of wine, instead of only a few countries. You likely won’t find these on the shelf at your local wine shop, in fact, you probably won’t find them at all. But if you do, please send us a glass, or more practically, a turkey baster filled with the precious, legendary liquid.
1945 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Romanée-Conti Grand Cru
The rarest of unicorns
Perhaps the alpha unicorn of unicorn wines, only 600 bottles were ever produced — and it’s one of the last vintages before the domaine ripped up and replanted the vineyard. One sold for $558,000 at Sotheby’s in 2018, and the rest is most likely sitting in private vaults or… already drunk. Either way, you’re not getting one.
Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon 1992 (Oakville, Napa Valley)
The ultimate Napa cult wine
This is the ultimate finance bro, steakhouse unicorn from one of the most desirable and small production wineries in Napa Valley. The ‘92 is the inaugural vintage that launched a thousand waiting lists, and only about 175 cases were produced. If you see it at auction, expect to bid somewhere above 60K. If you see it on a restaurant list, check the zeros again, and if you are dining with a group on someone else’s corporate card, I highly suggest ordering it, no matter the ramifications, which will probably include unemployment.
Henri Jayer Cros-Parantoux Vosne-Romanée 1999
Legendary microlot burgundy
This legendary, micro-production burgundy made recently famous from the Japanese Manga, turned AppleTV series Drops of God, is from the hallowed vineyards of the late Henri Jayer, who personally crafted this wine from only a few acres of vines. By 1999, he had mostly retired, and this is known as one of the last vintages made entirely by his hands. The bottles are few, cellared tightly, and traded rarely. Expect prices north of $30,000. Even more impossible to find are his early Echezeaux bottles from up to the late 80’s, or pre-1976 Richebourg’s, which would easily fetch six figures at auction.
Vega Sicilia Único 1962 (Ribera del Duero, Spain)
Liquid Spanish royalty in a bottle
Spain’s answer to first-growth Bordeaux, this legendary long-aged Tempranillo-based wine spends decades in barrels before the winery deems it worthy of release. The 1962 is considered one of the finest vintages ever, but it’s essentially vanished — unless you could raid the wine list at El Bulli (which closed in 2011, so you can’t, but the owners must have some stashed somewhere), or cross your fingers and go spelunking around the other finest restaurant wine cellars in Spain.
1921 Château d’Yquem (Sauternes)
A hundred plus year old dessert wine that’s still drinking strong
This list would not be complete without an example from Chateau d’Y’quem, producers of what is widely considered one of the greatest sweet wines ever made, from one of the finest vintages in their history, and somehow still alive and kicking today. Bottles occasionally surface at auction, but it’s rare, and the price tags reflect that: $20,000+, if you’re lucky. Other legendary vintages of d’Yquem include 1955, 1975, and 2001.
Krug Clos d’Ambonnay 1995
Cult Champagne joins the list
This blanc de noirs Champagne was the first of its kind from cult champagne house Krug, and just 3,000 bottles were produced. Krug’s entry level Brut goes for about $350 a bottle, so expect to pay around $5K a piece for one of these.
Other small production champagnes on the near impossible to find list include Salon’s 1966 Cuvee ‘S’ Le Mesnil Blanc de Blancs, which sells at auction for around $9,000 a bottle
2013 Domaine D’Auvenay Chevalier Montrachet
The white whale of white burgundy
From the prized vineyard holdings of 93 year-old burgundy legend Lalou-Bize Leroy, this wine was made recently famous in an episode of the oddly paced and directionless, but still somehow watchable AppleTV series Your Friends and Neighbors. In the show, John Hamm’s character steals a bottle from his neighbor’s cellar claiming it costs $30,000 a bottle, however a quick search only a week after the episode aired more accurately has the number between $42,00 – $60,000 at the high end of specialty retailers.
Only 639 bottles(or 53 cases) of this wine were made, it rarely pops up at auction, and is nearly impossible to find on even the best wine lists in the world, and now thanks to a quick cameo on AppleTV, the prices of any remaining available bottles have already gone up 30-50%!
