The next time your raffle ticket at your child’s school summer fayre coincides with the number on a rather dishevelled looking bottle of plonk, it might be worth remembering what one mum from north west England discovered when her prize was a red wine she had no intention of drinking.

Kerry Carty, 33, stuck the bottle in cupboard with the intention of giving it as a present to her grandmother, admitting she wouldn’t be drinking it herself as it “gives her headaches”.

But the bottle that cost the price of the 50p raffle ticket started to pique the interest of the Stockport mum, so she decided to Google it, discovering that the 1982 Château Cos d'Estournel, Saint-Estèphe, was no £4.99 supermarket ‘bargain’. Bottles of the red Bordeaux blend were changing hands for hundreds of pounds, so Kerry decided to place it on the auction website, Bid For Wine.

“I don’t know anything about wine,” said Kerry. “I’m not a wine drinker and I’ve never drunk it as it gives me headaches – so to get £185 is amazing to me.”

And it appears whoever bought the wine has got themselves a bargain, with bottles from 1982 selling for up to £400. Château Cos d'Estournel is produced at the world-renowned winery in Bordeaux, named after 19th century owner, Louis-Gaspard d'Estournel. The wine is typically a blend of 60 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, 38 per cent Merlot and two per cent Cabernet Franc.