A single 750 ml bottle of 1945 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti—originally sourced from the personal cellar of Robert Drouhin—sold for $812,500 at Acker’s La Paulée auction this past weekend. The sale surpasses the previous world record of $558,000 set in 2018, cementing the 1945 vintage as the most coveted bottle in the history of wine collecting.

Acker’s annual La Paulée Auction, livestreamed in New York City at Marea, was held in conjunction with the world’s greatest Burgundy celebration. The event delivered a historic three-day performance March 26–28, surpassing $25 million in total sales and setting an extraordinary 460 new world records.

The 1945 Romanée-Conti represents the final vintage produced before Domaine de la Romanée-Conti replanted its oldest vines—grapes that had survived phylloxera, two World Wars and nearly a century of Burgundy history. With production extremely limited, surviving bottles have long been considered the pinnacle of wine collecting, with many connoisseurs believing the pre-phylloxera vines add an unmatched depth and complexity to the wine.

“We made history this weekend,” said John Kapon, Chairman of Acker. “I’ve had the privilege of tasting the 1945 Romanée-Conti just three times in my life, and it is the greatest wine I’ve ever tasted. This remarkable sale was just one of hundreds of record-breaking achievements at an auction that highlighted the accelerating demand for trophy wines at the highest end of the fine wine market. This weekend’s event exemplified the soul and spirit of Burgundy, bringing together the world’s top producers and collectors and creating the perfect conditions for a truly historic result.”