I started this “Guinness Book of Wine World Records” article over a year ago, saved it to my drafts, forgot about it and I’m just now getting around to posting it. Enjoy!
Most Wine Glasses Held in One Hand
You know what they say about men with big hands! Well, in this case it means they can hold lots of wine glasses…
The world record for the most wine glasses held in one hand was 39 by Reymond Adina at the Quatre-Gats restaurant in Barcelona, Spain on 24 October 2007.
The number of glasses a waiter can hold is a matter of pride amongst the service staff in Barcelona held in the hand is a matter of pride for Barcelona waiters (probably going back to my first point), and many regularly carry dozens without breaking them.
Surprisingly, no matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t actually find a picture for this amazing feat. So you’re going to have to settle for a photo of Philip Osenton, the guy that took second place with 31 glasses held.
World’s Smallest Bottle of Wine
Thanks to Steve Klein of Klein’s Designs, you can drink 10 bottles of wine and still drink home safely!
His miniature wine bottles stand 1.2 inches tall and hold 0.026 fluid ounces. Each bottle is corked, sealed, and labeled. What’s even better is they’re for sale! Prices currently range from $20 all the way up-to to $90 for a bottle of Gros Frere et Soeur ‘Richebourg’ which has a 24 carat Gold Seal.
World’s Largest Collection of Wine labels
“Tonight on ‘Hoarders’…”
Sophia Vaharis of Athens, Greece, has a little-bit of a wine label hoarding addiction. She’s managed to collect over 15,200 different labels from wine bottles from over 50 different countries. Pretty impressive!
She catalogues each label using a special computer program that won’t accept duplicate entries, and so to do my bit, I’m going to send Sophia a Boone’s Farm label and see what she makes of that….
Most People Treading Grapes
Best. Party. Ever!
The world record for the most people treading grapes is 977 and was achieved in September 2010 in Labastida, a village located in Basque Country, Northern Spain.
During the afternoon the 27.56 tons of black grapes were carried by a big lorry and tipped into the main square, which soon became a juicy and tasty black carpet of grapes.
What they did with all that grape juice after the event is anyone’s guess!
World’s Largest Wine Flute
Never let it be said that Ukrainians don’t know how to party!
The world’s largest wine flute was filled with 75 bottles of bubbly in Balaklava, Ukraine, on 6 August 2011.
The glass measured 4 ft 5 inches tall, 21.2 inches at the base, 12.6 inches across the rim and 16.5 inches at the widest part of the bowl. Crimean Champagne.
What the Guinness Book of World Records don’t state is whether the record for the world’s largest hangover was set the following day…
Largest Wine Cellar by Number of Bottles
How is it that I am just hearing about this place now!?!?
Somewhere, in the Republic of Moldova (located between Romania and the Ukraine) is an underground wine cellar-sensation.
This former lime mine contains over 2 million bottles of wine, and totals 34 miles in length, officially making it the best place to be should the end of the world be announced! Just remember to bring a corkscrew!
World’s Highest Wine Cellar
If you have a fear of heights, this one might not be for you!
The highest cellar is CN Tower’s “Cellar in the Sky” located at 1,151 ft above sea-level Toronto, Canada.
The 9,000 bottle cellar has actually been designed to resemble an underground cellar, and features everything you would expect at ground level, including: climate and humidity controls, redwood racks, double cherry doors and a tasting table. For some more “down-to-earth” wine cellars, check out my favorite wine cellar builders: Joseph & Curtis.
World’s Oldest Manufactured Wine
Commandaria a sweet dessert-wine from Cyprus (let it be known that I’d never heard of it before today), is officially the oldest manufactured wine in the world! Its origins trace as far back as 2000 BC.
In the year 1223, King Phillipe of France called it “The Apostle of wines” and it soon became famous all over Europe as “Commandaria”, taking the name of the area where it was produced.
Don’t knock something until you’ve tasted it, but I’m going to take a stab-in-the-dark guess and presume it tastes awful…
Most People Uncorking Wine Bottles Simultaneously
308 is the number to beat this weekend if you’re thinking of attempting the world record for the most people uncorking wine simultaneously!
The record was set at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, on 29 February 2012.
After a short demo by the Bellagio’s Master Sommelier Jason Smith, the countdown to “bottle-popping-time” began, shortly followed by 30 seconds of twisting, levering and popping.
Although a few bottles stayed stubbornly closed (amateurs!), 308 people were able to open their bottles in the allotted time, beating the previous record of 252 set in New York the previous year.
World’s Most Expensive Wine Sold at Auction
The most expensive bottle of wine sold at auction is £192,000 (which converts to around $304,300).
It was paid for a bottle of 1947 Cheval-Blanc (right-bank Bordeaux), and sold at Christie’s Auction House in Geneva, Switzerland on 16 November 2010.
The bottle was sold to a private collector (with more money than sense) obliterated all of the auction estimates.
