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We estimate it costs $14 to $47 to make one bottle. The biggest part of that: farming the vines for a year.
Where the money goes
- Farming the vines for a year$4–$14
- Bottle, cork, label and box$4–$10
- Running the winery$2–$6
- Making the wine$2–$5
- The land the vines grow on$1–$6
- Money tied up while it ages$0–$4
- Ageing it in the cellar$0–$1
The cost of one bottle, at the winery door. Our models are built in US dollars and shown in your chosen currency. The shop price comes later, after the merchant, the importer, the shop and the taxman have each added their share.
Why the bottle sells for more
- There is no more land. A famous vineyard cannot get any bigger, however many people want the wine.
- The name. Decades of reputation, which buyers are willing to pay for.
- Time. With an older bottle you are paying someone for the years they stored it.
- Everyone in between. The merchant, the importer and the shop each add a margin.
- More buyers than bottles. The same number of bottles every year, and the whole world wanting them.
The numbers we used
The winery we pictured: Riesling from 60-degree slate terraces worked by hand: the highest labour per hectare on this site, tiny sweet-wine lots, low land values.
| What | Low | High | Unit | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bottling | 0.40 | 0.90 | USD/bottle | Bottling line quotes |
| Case and packaging | 1.00 | 3.50 | USD/bottle | Supplier price lists |
| Aging before release | 0.80 | 1.50 | years | Estate notes |
| Uses per barrel before sale | 3.00 | 5.00 | uses | Corkonomics assumption |
| Yield | 30 | 55 | hl/ha | VDP Grosse Lage yield caps / estate no… |
| New French oak barrel | 0.00 | 0.00 | USD/barrel | Cooperage price lists 2025 |
| Evaporation, topping and losses | 0.03 | 0.06 | share | Corkonomics assumption |
| Share of new oak | 0.00 | 0.00 | share | Producer technical notes |
| Financing over the aging period | 0.04 | 0.07 | rate | Corkonomics assumption |
| Cost of capital applied to land | 0.03 | 0.05 | rate | Corkonomics assumption |
| Bottle, closure, capsule, label | 2.50 | 6.00 | USD/bottle | Supplier price lists |
| Vineyard land value (imputed at a cost of capital, not purchased) | 165,000 | 440,000 | USD/ha | Deutsches Weininstitut / trade reporti… |
| Vineyard farming cost | 22,000 | 44,000 | USD/ha/year | Deutsches Weininstitut steep-slope cos… |
| Hand harvest and sorting | 4,000 | 8,000 | USD/ha | Deutsches Weininstitut steep-slope cos… |
| Winery overhead (staff, insurance, compliance, depreciation) | 2.50 | 6.00 | USD/bottle | Corkonomics assumption |
| Cellar space, topping, monitoring | 0.40 | 0.80 | USD/bottle/year | Corkonomics assumption |
| Winemaking and cellar labour | 2.50 | 5.00 | USD/bottle | Corkonomics assumption |