# How Hungary Made "the Most Expensive Wine in the World"

> Hungary's Essencia 2008 is winning over connoisseurs at $40,000 a bottle. We trace the story of the world's most expensive wine and the secret behind its flavour.

- URL: https://langandtrip.com.ua/en/article/kak-v-venhryy-proyzvely-samoe-dorohoe-vyno-v-myre/
- Language: en
- Published: 2025-08-06
- Categories: Culture, Historic Sites, Tours, Hungary, Food & Drinks, Relaxation

---
There's no doubt that good wine comes at a price, but $40,000 sounds pretty steep.

Yet the Hungarian winemakers at Royal Tokaji insist that their limited-edition Essencia 2008 decanter is worth every cent.

There are just 20 unique 1.5-litre magnums, designed by Hungary-based artist James Carcass, 18 of which were released last year.

When it launched, it was billed as "the most expensive wine in the world", and while that claim is hard to verify, the Essencia 2008 magnum decanter was without question the priciest wine put up for sale in 2019.

Each decanter, which comes in a lacquered black box fitted with a switch that lights up the bottle, is individually hand-blown, meaning no two are exactly alike.

Around 11 of them have already sold, so it seems likely that Royal Tokaji will sell the remaining seven long before the wine's best-before date in the year 2300.

But what makes this particular vintage so valuable?

## "A miracle of nature"

Essencia is produced in the Tokaj wine region of Hungary, northeast of Budapest, a popular day-trip destination for travellers visiting the capital.

The sweet wines made here depend on a mould called botrytis cinerea, known as "noble rot", which shrivels the grapes on the vine, turning them into something resembling brown raisins.

Essencia uses only the finest aszu berries, made entirely from aszu berry juice (other wines produced in the region have a base wine added to dilute their sweetness).

Visitors can arrange private tours of the winery, located about two and a half hours' drive from Budapest, to taste it for themselves.

"Essencia is a miracle of nature in itself," says Orsi Szentkiralyi, a London-based Hungarian wine specialist. "It's a very labour-intensive process that takes many years of careful work in the cellar.

"It reaches only a few degrees of alcohol, but it has an enormous amount of natural sweetness. It's so rich that it's usually served on a spoon rather than in a glass."

Essencia can only be made in years with more or less perfect weather conditions for botrytis. And 2008 was especially remarkable.

It takes about a kilogram of "incredibly ripe" aszu berries to produce just a single teaspoon, while a 37.5-centilitre bottle of the wine, which typically contains around 3% alcohol, requires roughly 20 kilograms of grapes shrivelled into aszu berries.

Although a great deal of work goes into the harvest, the fermentation process is relatively simple, since "you just bottle it and leave it".

"It's always the winemaker's decision when we bottle the Essencia," explains Zoltan Kovacs, general manager of the Royal Tokaji winery, based in Mad in the Tokaj district.

"It could be after three, or four years, or even after 10. This Essencia \[2008\] was bottled after eight years of maturing. It's a slightly unusual Essencia, because it has a higher alcohol content, around 4%."

The best luxury bars in Budapest

## A valuable vintage

![](https://test.langandtrip.com.ua/wp-content/uploads/de_import_uploads/june-article-image-92-1-2025.jpg)

This results in a distinctive and incredibly intense flavour with notes of honey, apricot and tea, one that is almost unbearably sweet. The liquid is so thick and syrupy that it's often served with a spoon. It's so concentrated that it's hard to imagine drinking more than a few sips without feeling a little light-headed.

Although Essencia 2008 has been sold before, it's the exclusivity of this particular set that makes the decanters far more valuable than a standard bottle.

Royal Tokaji had to obtain special permission from the Hungarian government to bottle Essencia in 1.5-litre containers, as existing laws allow a maximum capacity of 0.5 litres.

"This really is one of a kind," says Charlie Mount, managing director of Royal Tokaji. "I don't know if we'll ever be able to do it again."

The design of the unusual decanter was apparently inspired by the wine "slowly dripping from individually picked aszu berries".

Once finished, the decanters were sent to Portugal, where they were scanned and fitted with individually matched corks, before being returned to Royal Tokaji to be filled by hand and sealed.

According to the team at Royal Tokaji, which was founded by British wine historian Hugh Johnson in 1990, one of the venture's main achievements is the fact that it got the world talking about Hungarian wine again.

"This project is a symbol of one of Hungary's greatest export products," says Mount. "Hungarians are very proud of the variety of wines produced in the country.

"They make a wonderful range of wines. But I think, from an outsider's perspective, Tokaj wine has this mystique about it. It's even mentioned in the Hungarian national anthem."

Szentkiralyi shares this view, stressing that the country still has a lot of untapped potential when it comes to its wine industry.

"The long winemaking traditions, the favourable climate and the diversity of wine styles make it a wonderful wine-producing country, but most of the output is still consumed locally," she says.

While the collection may have brought Tokaj, and Hungarian wine in general, back into the spotlight, its appeal, and especially that of Essencia, goes back centuries.

How Budapest became a force to be reckoned with in fine dining

## A rich heritage

![](https://test.langandtrip.com.ua/wp-content/uploads/de_import_uploads/june-article-image-92-2-2025.jpg)

"Even in the early 20th century, Tokaj was the most expensive wine in the world," says Mount.

"Doctors used to prescribe it to their patients. If you were lucky enough to be able to afford it, you'd be prescribed a teaspoon of Essencia in the morning and a teaspoon in the evening."

"Pope Pius X kept it in his bedroom and lived far longer than anyone expected, because he drank Essencia."

Perhaps the most famous mention appears in Bram Stoker's "Dracula", where the character Jonathan Harker is served a bottle of Tokaj on his first night in Count Dracula's castle.

"The famous sweet wines of Tokaj have been favourites of the wealthy around the world for centuries," says Szentkiralyi.

"Essencia is a very unique product that may once have been the privilege of royalty, but anyone can find and enjoy a glass of Hungarian wine to see the quality for themselves."

Still, those willing and able to spend $40,000 for the privilege of owning this particular bottle will no doubt be few and far between.

London's elite department store Fortnum & Mason recently bought one of the decanters, while a collector in Beijing was the first individual buyer to purchase one.

"Of course it's expensive," Mount admits. "But serious wine collectors spend several times that amount \[$40,000\] every year building the perfect cellar."

While all rare vintages increase in value over time, Essencia offers a particularly appealing shelf life (the year 2300) thanks to its high sugar and acidity levels.

This effectively means the decanters are almost certain to be worth far more in the years to come.

So, once a wine collector has added one to their cellar, how likely are they to actually drink it?

According to Mount, the first bottle sold was opened at a Chinese New Year party shortly after the customer received it.

"It pains me when something just sits on display," he says. "Wine is made to be drunk. But at the same time, you'd want to save it for a special occasion."

Essencia 2008 is available by the spoonful at various restaurants and hotels across the United States and Italy.

The Royal Tokaji Wine Company, 3909 Mad, Hungary; (+36) 147 548 500