Ancient wines and modern which is better. The famous wine collection of Massandra. The oldest wines in the world that have not turned into vinegar

Ancient wines dating back thousands of years come to us either in the form of a dry residue or in the form of vinegar. That is, it is not possible to taste such wine.

Connoisseurs say that wines made no earlier than 1700 can be considered suitable for consumption. And then, provided that the alcohol was stored in ideal conditions. It is these drinks that have entered our today's Top 5 oldest wines in the world.

5. Muscat pink Magarach, 1836

This wine is listed in the Guinness book as the oldest of all produced in Russia. In total, 3 bottles of this wine have been preserved, which are stored in the VNII Magarach wine cellar near Yalta.

For the production of wine "Magarach" and 200 years ago, and today they use only grapes growing near the village of Otradnoye, Yalta region.

4. Chateau Lafite Rothschild, 1787

This bottle of wine was obtained by employees of the British company The Antique Wine Company, selling.

Once the bottle belonged to the first US President Thomas Jefferson, and then became the property of the Rothschild family. The price of a bottle, according to experts, is about $156,000. However, it is not easy to buy a historical bottle - it was included in a whole collection of 48 vintage wines. Naturally, a considerable amount will be requested for such a set.

3. Ch?teau d'Yquem, 1787

A bottle of this Ch?teau d'Yquem was sold in 2006 for $90,000, making it the most expensive sweet white wine in the world. The bottle was bought by an anonymous collector from America, who said that he was not going to drink the drink, which means that the wine could still find a new owner.

Prior to the auction, the bottle had graced Antique's collection of rare spirits for many years.

2. Jerez de la Fronteira, 1775

Spanish wine is stored in the Crimean Museum "Massandra". Five bottles of sherry make up the crown jewel of the museum's wine collection, which includes just under a million bottles. One of the bottles was sold to an anonymous person at Sotheby's in 1990 for $50,000.

After the wine was exhibited twice more at auctions and sold at a comparable price, permission to export wine outside Ukraine was given on behalf of the President of the country.

Chronicles testify that in 1964 one of the collection bottles was opened for tasting by order of N. Khrushchev. Everyone who had a chance to try sherry said that the wine is in excellent condition.

1. Rödesheimer Apostelwein, 1727

In the basement of a restaurant in Bremen, there are 12 wine barrels, each of which bears the name of a biblical apostle. The world's oldest usable wine is stored in the Judas Barrel, which has a volume of nearly 3,000 liters.

Periodically, several bottles are decanted from the barrel, which are not sold, but presented as a gift to monarchs and politicians. The last time bottling was done in 1950.

Several times, young wine from the wine-growing city of Rüdesheim of the best harvests was added to the barrel - feeding young wine with sugar allows the old wine to retain its freshness.

Winemaking is a fairly ancient technology for processing grapes and turning them into one of the most popular and beloved drinks. It is known that wine was made in ancient Egypt about 3 thousand years BC. But which wine is considered the oldest in the world, as well as the most famous and expensive today?

In the article:

The oldest wines in the world that have not turned into vinegar

Today there is the concept of "elite wine". These include varieties produced from the best grapes in farms that have honed their skills over the centuries in growing the sunny berry and processing it into the “drink of the gods”. These types of wines are usually selected from a large number presented for tasting, because they have unearthly taste and aroma.

Aged wines are also highly valued, that is, those that have a long aging period. Thanks to this, under the right storage conditions, the wine improves its characteristics. In order to create a masterpiece, today it is not enough just to implement some kind of wine processing technology, but you need to approach the matter creatively and from a scientific point of view.

According to experts, wines made before 1700 are not suitable for consumption today, since they are most often turned into wine vinegar. But still, there are worthy old drinks, from which connoisseurs get real pleasure, tasting an unusual taste and discovering a wonderful aroma.

Jerez de la Fronteira 1775: $50,000

Jerez de la Fronteira 1775 in the wine museum in Crimea

"Jerez de la Fronteira" is the pearl of the collection of the Crimean Wine Museum in Massandra. Made from 1775 grapes, it has several interesting historical moments. So, it is known that Khrushchev, the leader of the USSR, in 1964 was allowed to open one of the bottles for tasting. Those who were lucky enough to try the drink spoke about its excellent taste. It is also a historical fact that a bottle of "Jerez de la Fronteira" in the early nineties was put up at Sotheby's auction, and it was purchased by an anonymous buyer for $ 50 thousand. This is not the last time, since the drink was exported 2 more times outside the country, but already from permission of the President of Ukraine.

Chateau Lafite Rothschild 1784: $160,000

Chateau Lafite Rothschild 1784 and 1787

It is impossible not to mention the "Chateau Lafite Rothschild". A bottle of this wine once belonged to Thomas Jefferson, who was the third President of the United States. And today it is in the Rothschild collection, consisting of vintage wines in the amount of up to fifty bottles. This wine was made in 1787, and the entire set would be very expensive if only this bottle of wine is valued at almost $160,000.

Chateau d'Yquem 1787: $90,000

Chateau d'Yquem 1787

The most expensive wine from the sweet white variety is also known. This is "Chateau d'Yquem", which for many years was the decoration of the collection of the company "Antique", as the most rare copy. But then, at the beginning of the 21st century, it was sold for $90,000 to an anonymous collector from the United States. According to him, the 1787 wine will remain intact, which means that there is a chance that someday it will again appear at auction.

Muscat pink Magarach 1836

Muscat pink Magarach

It is these qualities that the Crimean wine "Muscat pink Magarach" possesses, stored in the cellars of the VNII "Magarach" wine cellar, which is located near Yalta. This wine from the 1836 vintage is in the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest wine made in Russia. To date, there are three bottles of this drink.

Rudesheimer Apostelwein (cask)

Rudesheimer Apostelwein

Rudesheimer Apostelwein can be considered the oldest barrel wine in the world, the production of which dates back to 1727. It is preserved in the wine cellar of one of the Bremen restaurants. Twelve barrels of drink are stored here - in honor of the apostles of Jesus Christ. And it is very interesting that Rudesheimer Apostelwein is stored in a vessel that holds 3,000 liters and is called the Judas Barrel. This wine is not for sale, it is presented as a gift to prominent political figures and representatives of royal dynasties. But the fence is produced very rarely - the last one was in 1950. To prevent the wine from spoiling, young wine is added instead of the taken one, but only from the best harvest of recent years. Thus, the unsurpassed taste of the drink is preserved.

The most expensive wines in the world

It is believed that the aging process of wine is one of the stages that improve its quality, so expensive wines, the names of which will be presented below, also have a rather long shelf life. Although there are exceptions to the rule.

Screaming Eagle 1992: $500,000

The most expensive wine to sell for half a million dollars at auction is Screaming Eagle. Made from the best grapes harvested in the early 90s of the XX century, it surprises with its taste, where the taste of grapes is set off by fruity notes. A very elegant purple color of the wine makes it more noble.

Château Cheval Blanc 1947: $300,000

Chateau Cheval Blanc

In second place is Château Cheval Blanc. A bottle of this was sold at a Geneva auction. We can safely say that this is the best wine in the world, because not only the age, but the berries of 1947 are based on it, but also the reputation is at the highest level. Considered by many to be the finest wine ever produced in the Bordeaux region of France. It was purchased for more than $300,000. Its shelf life can reach 100 years, but the wine will still be chic. It's so prepared.

Château Lafite 1980: $300,000

The wine "Château Lafite", owned by Jefferson, which we have already mentioned, is not only one of the oldest, but also in the top five in value. Back in the 80s of the twentieth century, M. Forbes bought it. And although it is no longer worth drinking today, it is unique, with the initials of the third president of the United States on the bottle. And the amount spent for it at the current rate is more than 300,000.

Heidsieck 1907: $275,000

The history of the Heidsieck drink, which belonged to the collection of the last Russian tsar, is amazing. But it was lost because the ship that was carrying the drink was sunk. And only at the end of the last century, wine was found under the wreckage of a sunken ship. This collection sold for $275,000 a bottle, although there was no certainty about the quality of the wine from the vintage harvested in 1907.

Château Lafite 1869: $230,000

In fourth place in terms of cost is Château Lafite. Wine made from grapes harvested in 1869 was planned to be sold for $8,000, but it was bought at an auction by an Asian collector for more than $230,000, since this drink is considered a luxury item in Asian countries and has a corresponding price there.

Romanée Conti 1945: $124,000

Romanée Conti is an expensive red wine made from grapes that were harvested in 1945 from the best vineyards in France. In total, for certain reasons, only 600 bottles were produced. The euphoria of the end of the war, the high quality of the drink, which has an excellent reputation, as well as a small amount of the product, allowed the collection to be sold at a price of almost $124,000 per bottle.

Chateau d'Yquem 1811: $117,000

Chateau d'Yquem

According to experts, thanks to the amazing harvest of 1811, the best white wines in history were produced. This explains their fabulous value. So, sommelier K. Vannek bought Chateau d’Yquem of this crop for $117,000.

Château d'Yquem 1787: $100,000

Chateau d'Yquem

The honorable eighth place in terms of value is, again, "Château d'Yquem", prepared from the harvest of 1787. This white wine was sold for $100,000 to a private collection in America. This bottle was carefully transported across the ocean to the happy owner.

Massandra 1775: $44,000

Massandra

For many Crimeans, Massandra wine is the best wine in the world. And it's hard not to agree with this, because the very nature of the Crimea contributes to the amazing quality of the sunny berry, and the winemaking tradition goes back many centuries. Therefore, it is not at all surprising that relatively recently a bottle of this drink from the 1775 vintage was sold for almost $44,000. Since the wine is already more than 200 years old, nothing can be said about the taste of the drink., but the fact that the wine is rare is beyond doubt.

Royal DeMaria 2000: $30,000

In the early 2000s, Royal DeMaria wine was bought for $30,000, which is why it ranked tenth on this list. An interesting drink is the technology of its manufacture - the grapes are frozen on the vine before fermentation. Therefore, the drink is also called "ice wine".
Wine is a drink that has a history going back centuries, a wide variety of tastes, aromas, varieties, types, and so on. And, as you can see, its price depends on many factors, the most important of which is its age. But at the same time, it is worth remembering that too much of it can bring harm to the body, so you need to know the measure in everything.

When mankind became aware of the properties of grapes, it immediately took up the invention of a miraculous drink - wine. As you know, this is one of the oldest drinks invented by people. Modern archaeologists constantly manage to make new discoveries, find ancient objects containing nectar all over the world. Here, for example, wine of 1300 BC was found in China, more than 5000 years old in Iran, more than 4000 years old in Armenia. There is no doubt that winemaking is one of the most ancient spheres of human life.

Very often there were only small drops of the most ancient drinks, which even a taste would not be enough, and not something to get drunk. Very often, but not always. For example, wines sunk off the coast of France are about 800 amphoras. On average, they contained 30 liters. drink. Their age is almost 2.5 thousand years. But rice wine from China, which scientists give an age of more than two thousand years, managed to find as many as five liters. However, no one had a desire to try it, because it was stored in a bronze vessel, which, most likely, had time to oxidize, which would certainly spoil the drink. Today, it is it that is considered the oldest wine in the world.

In 1867, another unique discovery was made in Germany near the city of Speyer - archaeologists found a bottle of wine dated 325 BC. There were several bottles, but the drink was preserved in only one. If we are talking about drinks of the last millennium, then the oldest wine is considered to be produced in 1727. A bottle of this rare drink has been kept in Bremen, Germany for several centuries.

Spanish wine, called "Jerez de la Fronteira" - harvest of 1775, is stored in the Massandra Museum in the Crimea. In 2001, one of the bottles of this drink was valued at Sotheby's at $50,000. The unique rarity "Chateau d'Yquem" - harvest of 1787, was sold in 2006 for 90 thousand dollars, due to which the wine became both one of the oldest on Earth and one of the most expensive alcoholic beverages.

However, unfortunately, hardly anyone will be able to drink the oldest wine, since it reaches us only as a dry residue, but, of course, it is proof of one thing - humanity has long since realized that the truth lies precisely in wine! As for the liquid itself, even the slightest remnants reached only the performance of the ancient Chinese, who were about three thousand years old.

At the present time, the oldest known wine is considered to be rice wine, whose age reaches 9 thousand years. It was found in China, and also contained the remains of fruits and honey.

Another old wine was recently discovered by archaeologists during excavations of a settlement in the mountains of Northern Iran. A drink aged for seven thousand years, or rather its petrified yellowish remains, was found among the ruins of a house at the bottom of an earthen vessel. Archaeologists suggest that the beginning of the modern wine industry comes from wild grapes that grew in remote times in the highlands of Western Asia.

However, the Italians, Cypriots and Greeks do not want to lose the "palm". Research has revealed that Greece contained the remains of crushed grapes used to make wine or juice. According to researchers, 2460 grape seeds and 300 empty grapes found were 6.5 thousand years old. The matter remained small, evidence was needed that the grape seeds found were nothing more than waste products from the winemaking process.

In 1980, during excavations in China (Xinyan), another oldest wine was found, dating back to 1300 BC. Of the "modern" wines, the oldest, obviously, can be considered the Johannesburg wine of 1648. A bottle of this wine was bought at an auction in Germany (Wiesbaden) in 1981, its cost was 19720 DM.

In Yalta, in the association "Massandra", the only copy of the Spanish wine of 1775 was preserved - "Jerez de la Frontera". Here, in Yalta, in the enoteca of the All-Russian Research Institute "Magarach" is the oldest Russian wine, bottled in 1836 - "Muscat pink Magarach".

I decided from time to time to write notes about wine, which I love and study. Last time I wrote, and today I’ll tell you about the myths around old wine.

There are two common myths people have about wine. Some believe that wine turns into vinegar over time, while others believe that it only gets better with age.

Does wine turn into vinegar over time?

Wine that you buy in a store or restaurant cannot turn into vinegar. In production, sulfur dioxide was added to it, it is also a food additive E220 - this substance stops the fermentation process, sterilizes wine. Wine in a bottle is dead.

Different wines add different amounts of dioxide. Most of all, they are added to sweet and strong, because its potential to turn sour is higher (bacteria love sugar). Less is added to organic and biodynamic wines - because of this, they are stored less, like coolness and do not like sunlight. There is no wine completely without dioxide, because small amounts of it are produced by bacteria during the fermentation process.

In general, sulfur dioxide in large quantities is harmful to health. But large quantities are more than 300 grams per liter, usually ten times less is added.

Despite the fact that the wine is treated with sulfur dioxide during production, in rare cases they can turn sour. For example, due to the fact that the cork of the bottle dried up, bacteria from the air got into the bottle through the resulting tiny canal, which ruined the wine. But this happens infrequently, usually with old wine and only in 1-2% of cases.

Also, homemade wine, which is produced in an artisanal way, can turn into vinegar, because no one processes it. But you are unlikely to taste such wine (and thank God). And of course, an open bottle easily deteriorates, it generally lasts 1-2 days.

Will wine get better with age?

Some wines do get better with age, but not all.

There are many complex organic molecules in wine that affect flavor and aroma. Some got into the wine from the soil, air and vines - with grape juice, others were formed during the fermentation process, others were absorbed from the tree during aging in the barrel. After the wine has been treated with sulfur dioxide, bottled and corked, no new molecules will appear in it, only old ones can decay.

Wine maturation is the breakdown of complex molecules into new ones. As a result, wine changes its taste over the years. If the taste becomes more interesting, then the wine has the potential to age. This wine gets better with age.

Most wines have no aging potential, they will not get better with age, and may even get worse. The potential is higher for saturated red wines that have been aged for a long time in a barrel - they have more complex molecules that can break down "correctly".

Inexpensive wine from the supermarket is better to drink immediately, it is useless to withstand it. A simple Bordeaux or Burgundy wine can be aged for 3-5, less often 10-15 years. Good wines age 20-30 years.

At the same time, it cannot be said that the older the wine with potential, the better it is. It gains flavor only up to a certain point, and after the decay is already too significant, and the wine deteriorates. This limit of taste is determined by wine critics based on their experience. Don't just keep random wine at home if you don't know what you're doing.

A friend says that "Chateau Margaux" in 1982 is the best. How so?

Wine has good and bad years (they are called vintages). In a good year, the weather was good for the ripening of the grapes, and the wine from it turned out to be very tasty. For example, for the Pomerol domain in Bordeaux, 1989 and 1990 were good vintages. And 1991 was frankly a failure, many wineries simply did not bottle wine that year.

When people buy and drink old wine, they may be looking at vintage. They know 2010 is an amazing year for Graves and 2013 should be taken for Northern California.

Accordingly, someone can pay thousands of euros for a bottle of their favorite good vintage wine, if they understand it. Many wine lovers chase such bottles at auctions. But all this requires special knowledge.

A keen eye for wine, an understanding of vintages and the potential for aging can turn winemakers and critics into superheroes. Chief wine critic Robert Parker became famous after calling the 1982 Bordeaux wines amazing, contrary to other critics - and he was right. Or, for example, Max Schubert, who made Australian wine famous. Since the 1950s, he has been making inferior dry wines from syr at Penfolds. The production was going to be closed, but Schubert continued to experiment and age the wine. In 2008, Penfolds Syrah turned out to be an amazing vintage - the wine collected 100-point ratings from leading critics. Today, a bottle of Penfolds Grande 2008 costs about a thousand dollars.

I myself am still poorly versed in vintages and potentials, but I can assure you: aged wines differ in taste even for an inexperienced person. But for this you need to sit down and try two wines at once, for example, 2017 and 2005. Lovers with more experience can understand vintage immediately, without comparison. But here you need a drink (I don’t know how to change my watchfulness regarding wine).

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So, in short:

• Wine in a closed bottle will not turn into vinegar over the years.
• Old wine in itself is no better than new, and maybe even worse.
• Wine has aging potential.
• Red wines aged in barrel for at least 12 months are potential. All other wines are best drunk immediately.
• The aging potential must be determined by the wine critic. Don't buy wine for potential if you don't know where to find information about it.
• Wine has a good year and a bad year (vintage). Wines from good vintages can cost several times more than bad vintages.
• A young wine of a good vintage will be better than an aged wine of a bad vintage.
• To better understand vintages, it is better to attend a tasting in a wine club or go to a winery, where they will be treated to wine from different years.

• The best examples of world winemaking are presented
• Collection varieties - available in stores
• Masterpieces of the Old and New Worlds
• Suitable for special occasion gifts
• Volumes from 100 ml to 6 liters

Elite wines are the best representatives of the wine family from all over the world. They are produced in farms that have gained their authority over the centuries. The title "elite" is given primarily to top quality wines that have passed a rigorous selection and numerous tastings. Elite wine is a great idea for a non-standard gift to colleagues, bosses, loved ones. We are sure that such a gift is pleasant both to receive and to give.

Assortment of elite wines

In the WineStyle store you can buy elite wines not only from recognized wine powers - France, Italy, Spain, but also discover new flavors by tasting the best wines from Austria, Hungary and Chile.

The most expensive wines in the world tend to be very old, hundreds of years old wines, like the 1869 Château Lafitte-Rothschild, which sold at auction for $232,700. Or it could be a rare, limited edition version of the wine, like Romanee Conti 1945, of which only 600 bottles were produced.

The most expensive wine in the world can also be bought for charity, like the 1992 Screaming Eagle, which sold for half a million dollars in 2008 (the usual bottle price is about $80,000). To buy an elite wine means to join the caste of true connoisseurs and collectors of wines, to feel the incomparable pleasure of owning a rare thing.

The passion for collection wines is worthy of respect, and we are ready to support you in your desire to drink only the best, special wine.

Elite wine - price in WineStyle

The name of the category speaks for itself - this section contains the best of the best, wines from producers with a well-deserved reputation. The price of such wines cannot be low - the cost of elite wines in WineStyle stores starts from 10,002 rubles. The most expensive wines in our store are represented by the Romanee Conti brand.