For the first time ever, Chateau d’Yquem is bottling its wine in nebuchadnezzars.

The massive 15-litre bottles – in a limited series of 120 bottles of the 2005 vintage – will cost €12,850 each.

‘We are bottling the 2005 in nebuchadnezzars for the first time to celebrate an exceptional vintage,’ spokeswoman Valerie Lailheugue told decanter.com.

One hundred of the nebuchadnezzars have been allocated to two wine merchants, 50 to Bordeaux Wine Investments and 50 to its American counterpart Bordeaux Wine Locators. The other 20 bottles will be kept for the chateau collection. They will be delivered in 2009.

The largest bottles of Yquem currently in existence are the 6-litre imperials of the 1982 vintage. In the UK one imperial of Yquem 1985 currently retails for about €2,200.

Written by Sophie Kevany

Sophie Kevany
Sophie Kevany
Bordeaux Expert, Decanter Magazine

Sophie Kevany is a freelance journalist, editor and researcher who is based in Bordeaux, France.

For Decanter, she reports on the news in Bordeaux, as well as covering various areas of the world wine industry such as environmentalism and reporting on wine markets.

She has formerly written for Agence France-Press, Dow Jones Newswires and the Profitable Ideas Exchange in Bordeaux.