300-year-old bottle of Madeira sells for $39k

Auction house Christie’s has sold a bottle of 301-year-old Madeira for US$39,000 (£30,700) to a collector in the Netherlands.

The 301-year-old bottle of Madeira went under the hammer for £39,000

Billed as the “oldest Madeira” in the world, the final hammer price for the rare bottle of fortified wine far surpassed its initial estimate of between $12,000 to $18,000.

In 2015 Christie’s sold a bottle of the same wine for around $20,000, some $6,000 down on the price they received for another of the same bottle in 2014.

While their final sale prices vary greatly, all were sold well above their estimates, which Christie’s said indicated that demand for such wines was greater than thought.

This bottle, made by JCA & C Terrantez, was produced in 1715 – the year that a then 5-year old Louis XV took to the throne.

Edwin Vos, from Christie’s, sampled the wine in 2013 describing it as “remarkably youthful” and “surprisingly sweet”.

It was bought by Netherlands-based collector Bay van der Bunt of Oldliquors.com.