If you think $100 is a lot to pay for a bottle of wine with dinner, you’re not alone. Restaurant bottles are often marked up and diners can pay several times what they might if they picked up the same wine at the store. That said, there are some restaurants with wine lists that make that $100 bottle look like boxed plonk. Here are eight of the most expensive lists available at restaurants around the world.
1. $1,900 For A Bordeaux In Brooklyn
The wine news circuit has been buzzing with news that a French Bistro in the notorious Bedford-Stuyvesant section of New York City’s Brooklyn has this bottle on its list. Known for being a rough neighborhood with high crime and poverty, most would not think of Bed-Stuy as a place to reserve a table and drop nearly two grand on a bottle of red. But, with Brooklyn becoming increasingly expensive restaurant owners are taking advantage of their proximity to more developed neighborhoods and offering excellent food and wine choices at a cut of the price. Most of the news surrounding the bottle is highly politicized and surrounds the constant struggle the borough faces with gentrification.
2. $2,000 – $9,000 For Rare Wines In Vienna
Palais Coburg Residenz in Vienna was named the restaurant with the best wine list in the world for 2014 and has a huge collection of wines including several several bottles of Grand Cru priced around $10,000. These are not the only expensive bottles on the list – many will set diners back a few thousand dollars.
3. $2,000 For a Riesling in South Africa
The Riesling is one of many high priced wines on the list at Rust en Vrede. This restaurant, located on a vineyard, prides itself in its extensive, impeccably list that includes not only their wines, but some of the best wines from around the world – breaking the tradition of many vineyard-based restaurants to only offer their wines and maybe a few from partners or other local vineyards.
4. $100 – $10,000 For Wines In Lima
Central Restaurante, located in Lima Peru boasts an impressive wine list with wines from around the world. While you will find some affordable wines on this list, most are priced from $200 – $500 and several come in in the thousands, including multiple ten thousand dollar bottles.
5. $15,000 For “Perfect” Wine in Vermont, USA
Tucked into the tiny town of North Bennington, Vermont is a restaurant that meets the tastes of locals and Manhattanites on their way to ski alike. Pangaea Lounge is known for its impeccable food, beautiful presentation, and excellent selection in wine. On the list, but not yet purchased, is the $15,000 wine that most people assume is a typo. It’s not, though. For $15,000 you can get three bottles that have a perfect vertical score and are said to perfectly complement each other. The list is not available online and it is rumored that the wines are not kept on site.
While most of us don’t have a budget for wines in this price-range, it is fun to know that they are out there, waiting for us when we score our first million or millionaire. What is the most you’ve spent on a bottle of wine? Was it worth it?