The world’s most expensive wine is from Hungary

How much is too much to pay for a bottle of wine? A newly-released 40,000 USD bottle of a 2008-vintage wine now ranks among the most expensive wines in the world at release. But the wine in question isn’t some storied Amarone or a rare French Bordeaux. This Tokaji Essencia wine from the Carpathian foothills of northeastern Hungary, where one of Europe’s oldest and most legendary wine regions is staging an unlikely comeback after a century of tumult all but obliterated its winemaking industry.

The high price of this special release bottle stems from both cost of production and scarcity. To produce a single magnum of the sweet, syrupy Essencia that Hungarian winemaker Royal Tokaji is now marketing for 35,000 euros can require more than 400 pounds of grapes, not to mention a lengthy maturation. Each grape must be harvested by hand, placing Essencia among the most labor-intensive wines in the world. (Fortune)