I chanced upon the exquisite 42 Block Kalimna ampoule 2004 in London’s outrageously decadent wine store in Mayfair. This extraordinary wine by Penfolds costs a whopping 120,000£ for 750ml… Well coming to why this would cost a ride to the moon, the block 42 vines were transported from France to Australia in the 1830’s and are now found in the Moppa area of the Barossa valley, where these rare single vineyard plots produce one of the oldest cabernet sauvignons in the world that are aged in 100% new american hogshead barrels for 13 months and only released in outstanding vintages the last one being 1996.
What makes this bottle more collectible is the fact that four of Australia’s renowned artists came together for this piece of art. The wine itself sits in a specially hand blown glass ampoule designed by the famous glass artist Nick Mount and hand blown by Ray Leake. The wine has no cork nor a screw cap and can only be opened by a specially trained wine expert who once bought, will fly down to open the ampoule with the help of a bespoke cutter which slices off the glass to precision. Psst..the grand heist will have to be well coordinated ;)
To add to this, the ampoule is housed in a glass prism with touches of elegance given by the metalsmith Hendrik Forster along with a wooden cabinet which was crafted by the cabinet maker Andrew Bartlett. Sounds opulent doesn't it? Only 12 editions of these magnificent works of art are made out of which, one of it is placed in Hedonism Wines, a place which I equate to the candy cottage from the famous tale Hansel and Gretel. Almost instantly I became childlike among the astonishingly lavish range of wines on display. If your ever in London, I’d say, miss the potter for this one.
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