$53,000 Bottle of Champagne

“What is an enviable annual salary for most was a bar tab for six on a recent evening at The Westbury Hotel’s Polo Bar when a mystery ‘Russian billionaire’ plunked down $53,000 for a Methuselah of Dom Perignon Rose Gold 1996 and then rewarded the barman for the bubbly with a $16,000 tip, on top of the obligatory service charge of more than $6600! The total tab was in excess of $76,000, a whopping more than $2,375 per glass (a Methuselah is the equivalent of 8 regular bottles of Champagne),” according to hotel sources.

Sounds to us like our dear friend Roman Abramovich, who dropped 30k at Nello’s on the Upper East Side for dinner last fall.  And left a copy of his receipt.

“While some other rare bottles of Champagne have sold at auction for higher amounts, the $53,000 bottle of Dom is the most expensive ever sold in a British bar. In fact, the posh Polo Bar is one of only three in Britain that carries the pricey iteration, known as the “King of Champagnes,” appropriately housed in a rose gold plated metal casing. Only 35 bottles are produced annually, made with grapes from specially selected vineyards from the best Grand Crus and stored for 12 years before being bottled. And the 1996 is considered especially fine, noted for its maturity and richness of character.”