A Hungarian winemaker is producing a $40,000 bottle of 2008-vintage wine, which is now considered among the most expensive syrupy products worldwide.

The high cost of production, scarcity and the lengthy maturation all contribute to the price at which Royal Tokaji is selling its wine, Essencia.

Each bottle requires more than 181 kilograms of grapes, with each having to be harvested by hand. The product undergoes 8 years of fermentation (compared to just days or weeks for most wines) and reaches only 2-4% alcohol.

Essencia is made entirely from the highly sugary juice of Aszú berries, with no base wine in the mix to dilute its sweetness. Given that not every vintage yields a high quality of Aszú grapes, the production of Essencia depends, therefore, on what nature gives.

As a result, only 18 bottles of the 2008 vintage will be sold.

“2008 is recognized to be an exceptional vintage, and Essencia is the kind of wine that can age for 100 years or longer. I think the reason they’re doing this is that they’ve got something that is essentially unique—it’s a very exclusive, limited edition kind of thing,” director of London-based Farr Vintners, Britain’s largest purveyor of fine wine, Tom Hudson, explained.