{"id":78,"date":"2013-08-09T12:46:32","date_gmt":"2013-08-09T11:46:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comptoirdesmillesimes.com\/blog\/?p=78"},"modified":"2018-12-07T15:51:19","modified_gmt":"2018-12-07T14:51:19","slug":"vins-cave-de-elysee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comptoirdesmillesimes.com\/blog\/en\/vins-cave-de-elysee\/","title":{"rendered":"Wines from the Elys\u00e9e cellar: French history in a bottle"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"cave<\/span><\/p>\n

May 30 and 31, 2013 saw the auction of part of the cave de l'Elys\u00e9e<\/strong><\/a>This was the first time in the history of the French presidency that 1,200 bottles were sold straight from the presidential cellar. The cellar, created in 1947 under Vincent Auriol, attracted a large number of enthusiasts and curious onlookers to the Drouot auction room in Paris.<\/span><\/p>\n

The idea is interesting, but everyone has their own opinion, like Michel-Jack Chasseuil, who wasted no time in writing to the President of the Republic in person to express his indignation (<\/span>see the RVF article<\/a>). At the same time, everyone works this way\u00a0<\/span>today: the<\/span>eminent hotels, Michelin-starred restaurants and even pure wine enthusiasts. Selling part of one's cellar, the \"fins de loges\", in order to be able to buy other bottles is becoming commonplace.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u25ba Cadeau vin : Create your own gift box of grands crus \u25c4\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

So we went to the sale with all guns blazing, happy to be preserving France's heritage and looking for nuggets.\u00a0<\/span>that will delight a few enthusiasts.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>But we had to face the facts. Apart from a few Parisian enthusiasts, French was not the official language in this hall. Chinese, Americans and Russians dominated the market! A Hong Kong importer even took almost half the sale. <\/span>We had to make room, find bottles with a story to tell without paying 10 or 20 times the price, as was the case with the first lots (Cognac boxes estimated at 150\u20ac, gone for over 2000\u20ac! ).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"macaron<\/p>\n

Of course, you don't come here to pick up your red wine for the Sunday barbecue. The first Bordeaux grands crus, Burgundy<\/strong> in all its splendour and even some superb wines<\/strong> Loire<\/strong> such as the famous cuv\u00e9e des loups<\/a> \"by Jacky Blot were present. The little macaroon \"\u00a0\u00c9lys\u00e9e Palace<\/strong>\" affixed to all the bottles in the sale, drove up the price of these .... bottles. The price of rarity, several stories in each bottle, pure madness!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Bottles<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

R<\/strong><\/span>ock out our selection and imagine that this bottle of :<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\"FRANCE-KENNEDY-DE<\/p>\n

Cap de Mourlin 1945<\/strong><\/span><\/a> would have been drunk by General de Gaulle when he met\u00a0<\/span><\/span>with John Fitzgerald Kennedy in May 1961, just after his election. JFK is said to have insisted that he couldn't come to France without drinking a Grand St Emilion from 1945, to celebrate!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Haut-Brion 1970<\/strong><\/span><\/a> was drunk on May 10th 1981 (Fran\u00e7ois Mitterrand's victory) by Val\u00e9ry Giscard d'Estaing, he went down to the cellar, furious, and said: \"I won't let him have my Haut-Brion 1970<\/a> ... Raymond Barre would have helped him by attacking the Haut-Brion White 1976<\/strong><\/span><\/a>. Legend also has it that Jacques Chirac called Raymond Barre after his victory in 1995, saying: \"There's some HBB 1990 left (code name for Haut Brion Blanc), Mitterrand didn't drink it all! And Raymond is said to have taken the keys to the R25 and driven off to theElys\u00e9e<\/strong> illico!<\/span><\/p>\n

Ausone 1975<\/strong><\/span><\/a> would have been drunk in September 1981 to celebrate the abolition of the death penalty. Mitterrand had warned: A great reform = a great wine in a great year. Not a bad way to motivate the troops!<\/span><\/p>\n

Mission Haut-Brion 1990<\/strong><\/span><\/a> was drunk by Jacques Chirac with Fernando Caroso (President of Brazil) during the third half of the Soccer World Cup final on July 12, 1998. The kind of wine that presidents like to drink with their counterparts, the kind that represents excellence \u00e0 la Fran\u00e7aise, in all humility!<\/span><\/p>\n

Lafite 1986<\/a> and Haut Brion 1989<\/a><\/strong><\/span>. We're talking about the cr\u00e8me de la cr\u00e8me of French wine. Mythical bottles in exceptional vintages, benchmarks in the field. It's hard to imagine the context in which these nuggets were tasted. <\/span><\/p>\n

What about you? Which\u00a0event<\/span>\u00a0would you have associated with these bottles?<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u25ba\u25ba\u00a0Access the complete selection of wines from the Palais de l'Elys\u00e9e cellar HERE<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The complete list of Cave de l'Elys\u00e9e wines on sale at Comptoir des Mill\u00e9simes :<\/span><\/p>\n