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If you think of truffles, foie gras pate, caviar or marbled beef with the word “delicacy”, you are definitely a gastronomic savvy. But there are products that are the dream of kings to enjoy. These products are equated with objects of art, they are bought by collectors and high-level connoisseurs. Wday.ru has compiled the top 10 of the rarest and most expensive gourmet pleasures.
Champagne Shipwrecked 1907 Heidsieck & Co
The full name of this drink is Shipwrecked 1907 Heidsieck & Co Monopole Champagne. Sounds like music. And the hiss of bubbles bursting on the surface is like the chime of coins. After all, this is the most expensive sparkling wine in the world. Its value is attributed not only to production in the French Champagne region and the vintage. This champagne has an amazing history. It was intended for the Russian Emperor Nicholas II.
The wine was shipped to the ship at the height of the First World War. As you know, Russia and France were allies at that time, so the wine did not fall under any sanctions. But during transportation in 1917, a ship carrying champagne was attacked by a German submarine. So the whole imperial drink went to the bottom. Well, then a revolution happened in Russia, and everyone had no time for champagne. Only in 1998, the surviving bottles of wine were able to be raised from the bottom of the Gulf of Finland.
Price issue: at the auction in Moscow they left at $ 275 per bottle.
Château Lafite red wine 1787
This wine is made in the Medoc district of the Bordeaux region. According to the official classification of Bordeaux wines in 1855, Château Lafite belongs to the category of the first grand cru, that is, the highest category in the classification. Alas, the shelf life of Bordeaux wines is short. For 50 years, wine inevitably turns into vinegar. Therefore, hardly anyone dares to sip a glass of old Château Lafite.
However, the value of the 1787 Château Lafite is not in its taste. The fact is that several bottles were personally signed by Thomas Jefferson, who later became the third president of the United States of America. In 1787 Jefferson was ambassador to France and regularly visited wine cellars in Bordeaux and Burgundy for tasting. He was a great connoisseur of branded drinks and sometimes bought whole lots of wine. Only three bottles with the signature of the great politician have survived to this day.
Price issue: in 1985 at auction the wine was purchased by the publisher Malcolm Forbes for $ 168.
Red wine Château Mouton-Rothschild 1945
1945 is considered one of the best vintages of the twentieth century – this is the first reason why this wine is worth crazy money. The second important fact is that it was created by one of the best Bordeaux producers in the Medoc region (the top 5 also includes Château Margaux, Château Lafite, Château Latour and Château Haut-Brion wineries). And, thirdly, the wine is poured in “dzherob”. The capacity of this bottle is four and a half liters. That is, the cost of a liter of Chateau Mouton-Rothschild is inferior to another red wine – Chateau Lafite. But perhaps a bottle of wine for the price of a mansion overlooking the vineyards is a good investment?
The enophile collector who wished to remain anonymous became the lucky owner of the giant bottle. He bought it at auction in 2007.
Price tag: $ 310 per bottle.
Kopi Luwak Coffee
Kopi Luwak is a type of coffee known for its specific processing method. This is one of the most expensive coffees in the world.. It’s all about small production volumes. Not more than 500 kg of this product are produced per year.
The coffee got its name thanks to its direct “producer”, the animal musang, or luwak. The eaten coffee beans are fermented by the gastric secretions of the musang, thus obtaining an unusual taste. The coffee beans themselves, passing through the intestines of the animal, remain intact. The Musang habitat is Indonesia, the Philippines, southern India and Vietnam. Therefore, Kopi Luwak coffee is made only in these regions.
Price issue: cost comes up to $ 1200 per kilogram.
Da Hong Pao Chinese Tea
The most expensive tea in the world is oolong tea. The first record about him dates back to 1385. Da Hong Pao in translation means “Big Red Robe”. Why is that? Legend has it that one Chinese student was given this tea by monks. With the help of a divine drink, the student was healed of his illness, passed an important exam, received a red robe in honor of this event and named tea after the robe. The leaves of this tea are harvested from six unique bushes near Tian Xin Si Monastery. The age of these bushes is about 350 years.
The last time the harvest from these bushes was sold 10 seasons ago – only about 400 grams. Since then, the leaves collected from these bushes have been sent straight to the state storage. And the name Da Hong Pao was given to all the tea bushes growing in the area. But they did not get the magical properties of the real Da Hong Pao from this, although the taste is really very similar. And it’s not just the kind of tea. Its production technology is very complex. Therefore, the price is so exorbitant.
Price issue: at auctions bids reach 700 dollars per kilogram.
Moose House Swedish cheese
The moose cows Gullan, Helga and Juna from the Swedish farm Moose House have become famous all over the world. They provide milk for the production of the most expensive cheese in the world. At the same time, the price is influenced by the lengthy milking process, which takes about three hours, and the seasonality – moose cows give milk only from May to September. The animals are fed with environmentally friendly feed and kept in special conditions.
Well, considering that there are only three moose cows, the amount of cooked cheese does not exceed 200 kg per year. All these factors make their cheese an expensive delicacy. It cannot be found on the market, only in luxury restaurants in Europe, and even then not in all.
Price issue: least 1000 dollars per kilogram.
Caviar Almas
If you think that the most expensive caviar is black, then you are not entirely right. The most expensive game is actually white and has a subtle nutty aftertaste. Such caviar is obtained from the beluga that lives in the Caspian Sea. The older the fish, the more transparent its caviar.
For the Almas brand, the most suitable age is 80-100 years. And today this species of beluga is endangered. No more than 10 kilograms of caviar are sold in Europe per year. It is supplied mainly from Iran. The caviar is packaged according to its status – in jars of 24-carat gold. The smallest jars are 10 grams.
Price tag: $ 25 per kilogram of “white gold”.
Melon Yubari King
The melon got its name from the provincial Japanese city of Yubari on the island of Hokkaido, where this variety was bred. The Japanese, with their characteristic pedantry, grow fruits in special greenhouses. The temperature regime and humidity of the air are changed several times, from the moment of the formation of flower ovaries to the time of ripening of the fruit. It is only through these manipulations that the rich taste that this variety is famous for can be achieved.
Breeders claim that the special piquancy of the melon is obtained from the soil on which it grows: it is mixed with volcanic ash. Experts claim that these melons have three distinct flavor notes: melon proper, watermelon and pineapple. And its delicate rind resembles the drawing of ancient porcelain vases.
Price issue: in the spring, at the beginning of the season, the price for one melon reaches Up to 2500 dollars… However, the record holder was the owner of a supermarket in Niigata Prefecture, who paid at an auction for a couple of royal melons about 28 dollars.
Chocolate La Madeline au Truffe
This is the most expensive designer chocolate in the world. Chocolatier Fritz Knipschildt from Connecticut, USA, made his name famous by creating a unique product based on an exclusive recipe. It is known that sweets are made from Valrhona dark chocolate and truffle oil with the addition of sugar, cream and vanilla.
Truffle oil is made from the French Perigord truffle. The proportions and method of mixing the ingredients are kept in the strictest confidence. It takes about two weeks to make each such candy. This wonderful chocolate is produced exclusively to order. The fact is that it can be stored in the light for no more than an hour. As they say, have time to enjoy!
Price issue: a pound (453 grams) of this chocolate is worth 2600 dollars, and the cost of one candy weighing 50 grams – about $ 250.
Elven honey
The most expensive honey in the world was “discovered” in 2009. The hereditary beekeeper Gunay Gunduz from the Sarikair Valley near the city of Artvin in the northeastern part of Turkey noticed that the bees were flying into the cave. Curious, he assembled a team of professional climbers and entered the cave 1800 meters deep.
Gunduz’s curiosity was richly rewarded. The expedition found 18 kilograms of wild honey. And what a! The cave rich in minerals, the special microclimate of the underground created a truly masterpiece. Research carried out in a French laboratory has shown that the concentration of minerals in elven honey is several times higher than analogs from ordinary hives.
Price issue: the first kilogram of elven delicacy was sold in 2009 on the French exchange for 45 euros. In 2010, pharmacists from China bought a kilogram of honey for 28 000… Today, unique elven honey is worth “only” 5 euros per kilogram. It is sold in small bottles of 170 and 250 grams.