World's Largest Bottle of Wine (4.5' High, 340 Lbs) Brings $56,000 at Sotheby's Auction; Winning Bidder Is N.J. Wine Store; Hunger-Fighting Group to Benefit.

NEW YORK, Nov. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- The world's largest bottle of wine (4.5' tall, 4.5' around and 340 pounds) was sold to a Northern New Jersey wine store for $56,000 in an auction of fine and rare wines held at Sotheby's in New York this weekend.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040818/NYW056 )

The mammoth bottle, dubbed Maximus and certified as the world's largest wine bottle by the Guinness Book of World Records, was created by Morton's, The Steakhouse (http://www.mortons.com/) in partnership with Beringer Vineyards to celebrate the restaurant group's 25th anniversary.

Maximus is filled with the equivalent of 173 standard bottles, or 1,200 glasses, of Beringer Vineyards 2001 Private Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

The bottle was sold to Wine Ventures, a fine wines and chocolate store in Tenafly, New Jersey. The price included a 17.5 percent buyer's premium paid to Sotheby's. Morton's is donating the hammer price of $47,500 to Share Our Strength, one of the nation's leading hunger-fighting organizations.

The bottle was named Maximus by Fred Dame, Master Sommelier and president of the U.S. chapter of the Court of Master Sommeliers. Previously, some called it "the King Kong of wine bottles."

The development of the world's largest wine bottle began late in 2003, with preliminary plans and drawings created by glass engineer and artist, Charles Parriott.