24.02.2011 - Vinexpo news selection
An amateur wine group paid a record 57,000 euros for a 237-year-old bottle of wine from France's eastern Jura region at a local wine festival auction.
"Finally, yellow wine has hit the big leagues," said wine festival founder Bernard Badoz of Jura's trademark beverage.
"To sell a bottle for 57,000 euros is not crazy," he said of the 1774 bottle that came from a Louis XV-era vine and grapes harvested during the reign of Louis XVI.
Swiss aficionado Pierre Chevrier, who bought the bottle on behalf of an amateur wine group, did not appear stunned by the price.
"My passion is to open bottles and I am delighted to have bought this bottle of yellow wine, which I will drink," he said. (AFP -8 February 2011)