Three bottles of 1774 Vin Jaune to go under the hammer

11th May, 2018 by Lauren Eads

Three bottles of vin jaune (yellow wine) from the 1774 vintage in Jura, believed to be among the oldest bottles of wine in the world, will be auctioned later this month, and could fetch up the €40,000 each.

The 244-year old wine are being sold by the descendants of the 18th century winemaker Pierre Vercel, as reported by The Guardian. The three bottles, which are technically known as Vin Jaune d’Arbois as the “jaune” term was not in use when they were made, are the last of that vintage owned by the family.

It’s believed that Varcel himself, or perhaps family member Anatoile Vercel, according to auction house Christie’s, made wine in France’s Jura region during the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI.

Vercel, who came from a….

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One Response to “Three bottles of 1774 Vin Jaune to go under the hammer”

Wink Lorch says:

May 12, 2018 at 4:26 pm

The story that Anatoile Vercel was the ‘inventor’ of Vin Jaune is completely false. No-one has yet ever fully unravelled the mystery of who first made Vin Jaune, or even any wine under a veil of yeast, or flor as it would be called in Jerez.

Although wines of Vin Jaune-style were certainly made as far back as the 17th Century or perhaps earlier, the term ‘Vin Jaune’ was not used until the early 19th Century and was never marked on the 1774 bottles from the Vercel collection. The wines were referred to as Vin de Garde or ‘keeping wines’.

Anyone considering buying one of these auction lots, should perhaps take a look at the section on them in my book. Or you can try-before you-buy through purchasing the sister bottle (the one sold by Christie’s in 2012) available at Hedonism Wines – I’ll leave it to you to check the price.

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