According to Reuters, the Georgian government has opened for the first time the cellar containing a huge collection of wines, gathered for years by Joseph Stalin. As you can see in the photo provided by the agency, the collection of old bottles with rare drinks looks quite terrifying. They are covered with a thick layer of dust and mold, and entangled with cobwebs. The Georgian government plans to auction this extraordinary collection, dating back to the early 19th century. Wine collector Victor Chen from the US called the project “a historic moment”.
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Stalin's wine collection will be auctioned
The funds raised from the auction of the wine collection will be used to open a wine education school in Georgia. As Irakli Gilauri, owner of the Georgian winery Gilauri Wines, who is cooperating with the Ministry of Agriculture on the project, told Reuters, the auction is intended to help “put Georgia on the map of collectors.”
Joseph Stalin, the Georgian-born leader of the Soviet Union from 1924 to 1953, considered a communist criminal, had a second face. He was an avid wine lover and collector of rare wines. His collection includes, among others: wines from the most famous French vineyards, Bordeaux, which once belonged to Tsar Alexander III and his son Nicholas II. As Reuters reminds, the Soviets took over their collection after the Russian Revolution in 1917, and Stalin became its “guardian”, gradually adding his favorite Georgian varieties to it.
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Wine collector Victor Chen, who came to Tbilisi from Dallas, Texas, was excited by what he saw in Stalin's wine cellar. — I feel like Indiana Jones opening a cave: “there may be nothing there, or there may be something big,” he said, referring to the fictional, swashbuckling archaeologist from the film series. — Few things are already historic moments. And this could be one of them, he added in an interview with Reuters.
