Taking a gamble on the finest wine

The folk over at 888 live casino announced a promo with a difference today, in which 10 players will each get a 6-case of ‘classic fine wine’.

You can read the full details, including how to put yourself in the running here.

As an enthusiastic red wine drinker this promo caught my attention at first glance. It then lost some of this attention when, on further reading, I discovered that they don’t tell you exactly what wine you will be getting.

Which of course begs the obvious question…just how classic and how fine are we talking here?

An old-ish Penfolds Grange or St Henri Shiraz would be on my wish list. It would also be nice to sample a couple of beauties from further afield… a recent Chateau Lafite, Chateaux Marguax, Chateaux La Mondotte…or any other label beginning with Chateau and retailing for more than $250 a bottle!

But the pessimist in me suspects the winning 6-cases may fall slightly short of this lofty mark.  Hope I’m wrong.

What is for certain, is that your case will definitely not contain any of the following bottles of wine…claimed to be among the world’s top ten most expensive by the Huffington Post.

1.  1947 Château Cheval Blanc: $304,375
   Regarded by some as the greatest Bordeaux of all time, a bottle now sits gathering dust in the no doubt ample cellar of a Swiss collector who snapped it up at auction for $304,375 at Christie’s in Geneva.  Enjoy now or cellar for another 50 years or so says Christie’s wine expert Michael Ganne.
2. 1907 Heidsieck: $275,000
   200 bottles from Russia’s Heidsieck vineyard that were on their way to the Imperial family back in 1916 went missing in a shipwreck.  Found in 1997, they are now on sale at Moscow’s Ritz-Carlton for a lazy $275,000 per bottle.
3. 1869 Château Lafite: $233,972
   An anonymous Asian buyer (888’s Asian office rep maybe?) paid this much for one of these in 2010.
4. 1787 Château Lafite: $160,000
   This is how much Malcolm Forbes paid for the 1787 Lafite back in 1985 – closer to $300,000 in today’s dollars. And it’s not even drinkable!
5. Romanée Conti 1945: $123,900
   Only 600 bottles of the ’45 Romanée were created and few remain today.  One is owned by an American collector who paid $123,900 at a Christie’s fine wine auction.
6. 1811 Chateau d’Yquem: $117,000
   Some believe this to be the most supreme vintage of one of the greatest Bordeaux’s of all time. Sommelier Christian Vanneque is one of the believers, forking out $117,000 for a bottle that he plans to open in 2017 to celebrate 50 years in the wine-snobbery business.  Hope it’s not corked!
7. 1787 Chateau d’Yquem: $100,000
   Bought by a US collector recently for an even $100k.  Looks like the older you go with the d’Yquem Sauternes the cheaper they get. Put me down for a 1550!
8. 1945 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild: $47,000
   That price is per-750ml. A 6l bottle of the Chateau Mouton-Rothschild was sold by Sotheby’s New York for $310,700.
9. 1865 Château Lafite: $27,000
   A magnum of the 1865 Lafite was sold by a Floridian businessman to a European collector for $111,625, or around $27,000 per 750ml.
10. 1978 Montrachet: $24,000
    A case of 7 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Montrachet’s were sold in 2001 for $24,000 per bottle!