1. The oldest winery in the world
Recorded at an impressive 6100 years old, the first sign of winemaking production in the world can be found in an Armenian cave.
An international team of researchers discovered the first remains of vegetal pigments from red wine, presses, drinking bowl storage tanks, clay vases, skins and seeds.
2. The world's most expensive wine ever sold
When a bottle of Burgundy Grand Cru from Domaine de la Romanee-Conti comes onto the auction market, expect to hear some noise about it, especially when it’s from the 1945 vintage.
Not only is this wine incredibly desirable to wine collectors, 1945 was a legendary year in Burgundy. A regular 75cl bottle sold for £424,000 in October 2018 at Sotheby’s Auction House, New York, breaking the world record for the most expensive bottle of wine ever sold!
3. The largest wine cellar in the world
Located in Moldova, sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine, producer Mileştii Mici's wine cellar stretches for an incredible 240 kilometres.
When an old limestone mine closed in the late 60’s, the opportunity to re-purpose the limestone caverns into a wine cellar was a no-brainer. With a constant temperature of around 10 degrees, it’s perfect for ageing the nearly 2 million bottles it houses.
4. The oldest bottle of wine in the world
This extremely rare wine was discovered during the excavation of a Roman nobleman’s tomb and is said to be around 1,640 years old.
Stored in the Historical Museum of the Palatinate in Germany, the 1.5lr glass Speyer is the first irrefutable proof of the use of the glass bottle for the preservation of wine. The contents of the bottle is around one-third olive oil which has been used as a preservative.
5. The largest vine in the world
Located a lot closer to home that you may expect, the largest grape vine in the world can be found at Hampton Court Palace.
With a circumference of 3.8m (12 ft 5 in) and branches typically measuring up to 33m (108 ft) long, this 250 year old vine was officially awarded its status by the Guinness World Records in January 2005.