Chateau Stalin Up for Grabs
In the shameful arena - for a communist - of Sotheby's auction rooms in London, 195 bottles from Stalin's dessert wine cellar were auctioned yesterday, several going for more than £2,000 a bottle.
He always claimed to drink everyday Georgian red wine served from clay jugs, but the truth about "Uncle Joe" Stalin's taste in vintages proved very different yesterday.
In the shameful arena - for a communist - of Sotheby's auction rooms in London, 195 bottles from the great dictator's dessert wine cellar were auctioned, several going for more than £2,000 a bottle.
Some are thought to have returned to Russia and Ukraine, with four of the top 10 lots selling to private buyers from the continent. Other rarities went to Asia and the US, with British drinkers mostly content to take the relative bargains.
There were many more than expected of these, with 327 lots left unsold after failing to reach their reserve. Despite the possible cachet of uncorking Chateau Stalin, the sale fetched £149,391, well below forecasts of £500,000.
The highest price was £4,140 for two bottles of Kron Brothers madeira, blended in 1913 under Tsar Nicholas II, whose collection Stalin inherited.
In the shameful arena - for a communist - of Sotheby's auction rooms in London, 195 bottles from the great dictator's dessert wine cellar were auctioned, several going for more than £2,000 a bottle.
Some are thought to have returned to Russia and Ukraine, with four of the top 10 lots selling to private buyers from the continent. Other rarities went to Asia and the US, with British drinkers mostly content to take the relative bargains.
There were many more than expected of these, with 327 lots left unsold after failing to reach their reserve. Despite the possible cachet of uncorking Chateau Stalin, the sale fetched £149,391, well below forecasts of £500,000.
The highest price was £4,140 for two bottles of Kron Brothers madeira, blended in 1913 under Tsar Nicholas II, whose collection Stalin inherited.
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