Three bottles of Anatoile Vercel Vin Jaune that may be the oldest bottles of wine in the world are hitting the auction block on Saturday.
The Vin Jaune, or “yellow wine,” was reportedly made by winemaker, Anatoile Vercel in 1774, with grapes harvested during the reign of Louis XVI. How’s that for a vintage?
The bottles have been in the possession of Vercel’s descendents in Arbois, in eastern France, which is the capital of winemaking in the Jura region near Switzerland, the Economic Times reports.
The bottles will go on sale this Saturday at the Jura Enchères auction house.
Although these bottles are the only three remaining of that vintage, other 1774 Vercel wines have been sold, in 2001 (for the equivalent of $67,000) and 2012 (for the equivalent of $46,000).
The wines are apparently expected to be very good, too: In 1994, a tasting panel of 24 wine professionals rated the wine a 9.4 out of 10, offerings notes such as “walnuts, spices, curry, cinnamon, vanilla and dried fruits.”
Must be nice. (See what we did there?)