French presidential wine auction nets 718,800 euros

This week’s auction of bottles from the French presidential wine cellar raised twice the sum expected, the auctioneers announced on Saturday.

Yours for only 7,000 euros - Hollande with a bottle of wine from the Corrèze region he represented in parliament Reuters/Regis Duvignau

The 1,200 bottles, just 10 per cent of the total collection, fetched a cool 718,800 euros

with many bottles selling for much more than their estimated worth, partly because of labels testifyinig to their prestigious provenance.

The first day’s auction on Thursday had already netted 295,663 euros and Friday’s sale kept up the good work.

Among the most profitable items were a bottle of 1990 Château Pétrus, selling at 7625 euros including costs – more than three times its estimated price - and a 1982

Château Latour selling at 4.625 euros, over twice the estimate.

Buyers came from “all over the world”, according to Ghislaine Kapandji of auctioneers Kapandji-Morhange.

“In a spirit of good management the proceeds of this sale will be reinvested in less expensive wines and the surplus paid into the state’s budget,” announced Paris’s Drouot auction house, where the sale took place.

The Elysée presidential palace says that it wants to encourage a new generation of French wine growers and adapt the cellar to modern tastes.