What Do You Eat With a $168,000 Bottle of Wine?

The most expensive wine ever sold directly from a winery will go on sale this week, from the venerable Australian vintner Penfolds. The limited edition release of the 2004 Penfolds Block 42 Cabernet Sauvignon is priced at $168,000 a bottle.

The custom ampoule made for Penfolds's Block 42 limited release. (Source: Penfold's)The wine's distinctive price comes from its rarity. The wine was made from the oldest producing cabernet sauvignon vines in the world, transplanted from France to Australia in the 1830s.

Later planted at the Kalimna Vineyard in the Barossa Valley, northeast of Adelaide, the vines today provide unequaled juice, but little of it. Only 12 bottles of the 2004 vintage will be sold.

To add further cachet, Penfolds commissioned an ampoule of scientific grade glass to hold it from three Australian artists: Nick Mount, who designed and hand-blew the glass; silversmith Hendrik Forster, who prepared the precious metal detailing; and furniture craftsman Andrew Bartlett, made the bespoke Jarrah cabinet.

This isn't the first wine sold from the historic vines. In 2005, Penfolds sold a store of 500 cases with an estimated price of $225 for a bottle. At the time, Wine Spectator magazine critic Harvey Steinman described the Block 42 as "the best straight cabernet Australia has ever made," citing its "gorgeous flavors, elegance and incredible length."

The question is, at that price, is there a meal that would do the wine justice? Some wine-country gourmets like Stephen Rogers, chef at Press, in California's Napa Valley, recommend meeting it head-on.

"With such a rich, intense flavor, you need a dish of comparable power," says Rogers. "I would pair this wine with our grilled Brian Flannery 28 day dry-aged "Cowboy" Rib-eye, served with truffle butter and a stack of lightly-battered onion rings. "

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