The most expensive white wine ever sold is a bottle of 1811 Chateau d’Yquem, which went for 75,000 pounds (about $117,000) at the Ritz in London in July 2011. It was a private sale rather than an auction. The highest white wine price we can document at a true auction is a 1847 Yquem at $71,675 in 2004. Below are the white wines with documented sale prices, from the old sweet wines of Sauternes to white Burgundy.
| Rank | Wine | Price | Date | Sold at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chateau d’Yquem 1811, one bottle | 75,000 pounds (about $117,000) | Jul 2011 | Private sale, Ritz London |
| 2 | Chateau d’Yquem 1847, one bottle | $71,675 | Oct 2004 | Zachys, Los Angeles |
| 3 | Chateau d’Yquem 1787, one bottle | reportedly 31,000 pounds | 2006 | Sale reported by trade press |
| 4 | DRC Montrachet 1978, seven bottles | $167,500 (about $23,900 each) | Dec 2001 | Sotheby’s, New York |
| 5 | Domaine d’Auvenay Criots-Batard-Montrachet 2005, one bottle | 16,875 euros | 2024 | iDealwine auction |
1. Chateau d’Yquem 1811: 75,000 pounds
Yquem made about ten barrels, roughly 3,000 bottles. Only around ten confirmed bottles survive. The Antique Wine Company sold one in July 2011 at the Ritz London, after the wine was verified at the chateau. It said the bottle came from a European cellar bought four years earlier.
The buyer was Christian Vanneque, a former head sommelier at La Tour d’Argent in Paris. He said he would not resell it. The sale was widely described as a record for a white wine, and one report called it a Guinness record.
How we valued it: price on the day as reported by trade press, converted at the exchange rate of the time. This was a private sale, so no buyer’s premium applies.
2. Chateau d’Yquem 1847: $71,675
Zachys held its first Los Angeles auction on October 8 and 9, 2004. The bottle of 1847 Yquem was the headline white at $71,675, the highest price paid for a white wine at that time and the highest for a bottle at any US auction. Other records at the sale were reds, such as an 1811 Lafite at $30,550.
Seven years later the 1811 passed it.
How we valued it: price realised including premium, as reported by the auction house after the sale.
3. Chateau d’Yquem 1787: reportedly 31,000 pounds
Before the 1811 sale, the white wine record was reportedly a bottle of 1787 Yquem at 31,000 pounds in 2006, according to a trade report of the 2011 sale. We did not find the 2006 sale page, so we hedge it and rank it from that one report.
How we valued it: figure reported by trade press as the earlier white wine record; unconfirmed by an auction page.
4. DRC Montrachet 1978: $167,500 for seven bottles
On December 1, 2001, Sotheby’s sold the final cellar of its partnership with Aulden Cellars in New York. The sale made $4,285,738 and the auction house called it a world record for white Burgundy. Seven bottles of 1978 Montrachet from Domaine de la Romanee-Conti sold for $167,500, about $23,929 a bottle.
How we valued it: lot price divided by seven bottles, with premium, from the sale report.
5. Domaine d’Auvenay Criots-Batard-Montrachet 2005: 16,875 euros
The priciest white at one French online auction house in 2024 was a bottle of this grand cru. In 2024 that house sold 26,657 bottles of white Burgundy, up 37 percent in volume. Top whites are rarer than top reds: the priciest bottle of 2025 at the same house was a red Musigny at 25,416 euros.
How we valued it: price with fees in euros as reported in the auction house’s annual figures; we did not convert it to dollars.
Other benchmarks
- A case of 1989 DRC Montrachet sold for $77,675 at Hart Davis Hart in Chicago in 2017, about $6,500 a bottle.
- A case of 1996 DRC Montrachet made $41,125 at Sotheby’s New York in 2005.
- At the 2025 Hospices de Beaune charity auction, a barrel of Batard-Montrachet reached a record 400,000 euros. A barrel holds a few hundred bottles, so that figure is not a bottle price.
What drives these prices
- Age and survival: 19th century Yquem lasts because it is sweet, high in acid and sealed from air, so a few bottles are still sound.
- Verification: the 1811 sale hinged on the chateau confirming the bottle.
- Red beats white: apart from Yquem, white wines rarely outsell the great Burgundy and Bordeaux reds.
FAQ
What is the most expensive white wine ever sold?
A bottle of 1811 Chateau d’Yquem, sold for 75,000 pounds (about $117,000) in a private sale at the Ritz London in July 2011.
What is the most expensive white wine sold at auction?
The 1847 Yquem sold for $71,675 at Zachys in Los Angeles in October 2004 is the highest we could confirm.
What is the most expensive white Burgundy?
In our data, seven bottles of 1978 DRC Montrachet sold for $167,500 at Sotheby’s in 2001, about $23,900 a bottle, and a 2005 Criots-Batard-Montrachet made 16,875 euros in 2024.
Why was the 1811 so valuable?
Age and rarity: about 3,000 bottles were made and only around ten confirmed bottles remain.
Do old white wines age as well as reds?
Sweet whites like Yquem can last centuries. Dry whites rarely do.
How we put this list together
We ranked white wines by documented sale price per bottle, using auction results and dated reports of the sale. Some lots are multi-bottle, so we divide them. Prices are approximate.
Last updated: October 2026.
