World's Most Expensive Bottle of Champagne Sold for $2.5 Million

A magnum of Château Avenue Foch 2017 that was put up for auction sold for a world record price of $2.5 million, making it the most expensive bubbly ever. The bottle, however, did not reach the astronomical price because of its rare vintage, but rather, because it comes with an NFT that gives the owner intellectual property rights to the Bored-Ape Mutant artwork on the bottle.

The Bored-Ape Mutant Champagne bottle

The project was created by British entrepreneur and luxury champagne connoisseur Shammi Shinh, who previously sold a bottle of champagne called Taste of Diamonds, which was bought by One Direction’s Liam Payne, who was only 19 years old at the time.

An NFT (non-fungible token) is a financial security consisting of digital data stored in a blockchain. For this one, Shinh partnered with The Bored Ape Yacht Club – a collection of 1,000 unique Bored Ape NFTs and 20,000 Mutant Ape digital collectables that live on the Ethereum blockchain and usually sell for around $200k each. It was first made available on OpenSea for 2500 ETH ($2.5m), but the sale was allegedly made in dollars rather than cryptocurrency.

The physical bottle features artwork by artist Mig and is encrusted with diamond-cut Swarovski crystals with pure pewter embedded in the design, while the bubbly inside is made from 100% Premier Cru grapes, produced at the family-owned estate in Allouchery, Chamery. It was bought by Italian cryptocurrency investors Giovanni and Piero Buono.

Most likely, though, they won’t be popping the cork on this bottle any time soon.

“As it is sold as an NFT, I expect it to be traded a few times in the marketplace before the physical bottle lands with the right individual who will HODL (hold on for dear life),” said Shinh. “In order to receive the physical champagne bottle, the buyer will need to burn the NFT. The champagne itself is a work of art and unmatched quality.”

“NFTs are the new diamonds,” continued Shinh. "I'm hoping for more awareness — I want people to understand NFTs now”.