Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Wine Wandering Wino: Eighteen Liters of French Wine Under One Cork? It's a Melchior!
Posted by Chris Chamberlain on Wed, Sep 28, 2011 at 8:28 AM
In among a list of several Bordeaux wines and sauternes were these two bottles:
2008 Chateau Montrose, St.-Estephe, 95-97RP, $3,650 per 18 liter
2008 Chateau Pontet-Canet, Pauillac, 96-98+RP, $4,265 per 18 liter
Eighteen liters? That's 24 bottles. Two cases. I figured it was probably a typo until I confirmed it with the master himself. The largest bottle I have ever purchased was a 3-liter Jeroboam and the biggest I've seen in person was a 15-liter Nebuchadnezzar. Apparently these 18-liter bottles are extremely rare and are known as Melchiors.
Since wine matures more slowly in larger bottles, whoever bought the bottle of Chateau Montrose can probably will it to his grandchildren. That's right, somebody has already ponied up almost four grand for the first bottle but hadn't picked it up yet by the time I visited to see the beast in person. Maybe he's waiting to rent a uHaul to get it home.
The Chateau Pontet-Canet hadn't arrived yet, so maybe you can still get down there to see it or, even better, buy it. I'd be happy go in on a gallon or two with you.
Comments (2)
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That is the biggest bottle I've ever seen. Does it come with one of those dollies they have for the 5 L bottles of Johnnie Walker?
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