Bordeaux vineyards are the world's most expensive
Premier Grand Cru vines grown in the Bordeaux region in France make the world's most expensive grapes, priced up to at an eye-watering €1.2m ($1.66m) per hectare.
The Bordeaux region's Premier Grand Cru, meaning the best of the first growth, is the most expensive grape to grow in the world, according to research from high-end agent Knight Frank.
The Premier Grand Cru comprises the districts of Medoc and St Emilion only. Bordeaux is divided into 36 districts, which in turn are divided into communes. Within these communes, again, are certain individual vineyards, called châteaux, that produce the finest wines.
A vineyard anywhere else in Bordeaux will set you back a modest €18,000 to €30,000 per hectare.
Bordeaux vineyard prices may be sky-high, but the returns available on a good case of Bordeaux are equally gravity-defying. Last month a single owner sold in excess of £1.2m worth of vintage Bordeaux and Burgundy at an auction at Sotheby's. The most expensive Bordeaux was the Château Lafleur 1982, fetching around £32,000 for 12 bottles.
The second most expensive grape-growing region is Chianti, in Tuscany, Italy. A hectare of Chinati vines is valued at between €200,000 and €250,000.
Vines grown in Provence, on France's Mediterranean coast, cost up to €40,000 per hectare.
A recent study conducted by the Chambre d’Agriculture in Gironde found that the cost of producing a tonneau, or 900 litres, of wine from a vineyard planted with 3,333 vines per hectare, is €1,325, if the most advanced techniques are used.
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