Jeff Bezos mocked for spending $4k on bottle of ‘engagement wine’ worth just $650

The Amazon founder spent $4,285 on a bottle of red wine that reportedly sells for just $647

Meredith Clark
New York
Thursday 01 June 2023 13:24 EDT
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People think Jeff Bezos was ripped-off after he reportedly spent more than $4,000 on a bottle of wine that sells just in the hundreds.

The Amazon founder, 59, reportedly went all out to celebrate his engagement to fiancée Lauren Sanchez, 53, last week. According to People, Bezos forked over $4,285 for an off-menu bottle of Dugat-Py Grand Cru from Domaine Bernard, which the couple enjoyed at La Petite Maison in Cannes, France.

However, many wine experts believed that Bezos was stiffed on the bottle of red Burgundy wine – which apparently sells for much less.

Parcelle Wine, a wine seller and bar located in New York City’s Lower East Side, poked fun at Bezos’ faux pas on social media. “Wine fact of the day: Bezos knows less than you and got mega ripped off in France,” they captioned the post, which included a photo of the seemingly high-priced bottle of Dugat-Py Grand Cru.

Fellow wine lovers trolled the billionaire businessman in the comments, writing: “LOL what did he think he was ordering, Rousseau Chambertin?”

“This explains Amazon’s s****y wine selection,” another said.

According to the New York Post, the same bottle of pinot noir sold at auction in March 2022 for just $647, a more than $3,500 difference compared to how much Bezos spent on the Dugat-Py Grand Cru.

“The wine, Chambertin, is from the fabled Chambertin vineyard in the Cote D’Or section in Burgundy. This vineyard is one of the most revered in the world,” a wine expert told the outlet.

The Dugat-Py Grand Cru is available on alcohol delivery app Drizly for $552, and appears to be selling in the hundreds from a number of online retailers. However, Wine Searcher estimates the 2015 bottle of Dugat-Py Grand Cru to be within the thousands. Plus, restaurants are typically allowed to charge around two to five times more for a bottle of wine than the wholesaler cost.

Although Bezos seemingly paid more than $4,000 for an overpriced bottle of wine, it’s likely the pinot noir didn’t put a dent in his pocket. The Amazon founder is worth an estimated $141bn.

(Getty Images for Vanity Fair)

On 22 May, People confirmed that Jeff Bezos was engaged to Lauren Sanchez after five years of dating. He popped the question during the getaway in the South of France, where the couple had spent time on Bezos’ new $500m superyacht. The Emmy-winning journalist was spotted wearing what appeared to be a large diamond engagement ring while aboard the yacht.

Bezos and Sanchez, who took their relationship public in January 2019, have both been married before. The Amazon CEO and his ex-wife MacKenzie Scott divorced in 2019 after 25 years of marriage. The couple share three sons and a daughter.

Sanchez – who was married to Patrick Whitesell – shares son Nikko with former NFL star Tony Gonzalez, and son Evan and daughter Eleanor with her ex-husband.

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