Officials in the Georgian capital have opened a historic wine vault for the first time this week, revealing approximately 40,000 bottles that once belonged to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.
The collection, now owned by the Georgian government, contains French and Georgian wine rarities stored in a repository where cobwebs hang from the ceiling and a sweet, musky aroma fills the dimly lit space.
Government officials intend to sell the collection at auction, with some bottles dating back to the early 1800s, and will direct proceeds toward establishing a wine education school within the country.
Irakli Gilauri, owner of Gilauri Wines who collaborated with the nation’s agriculture ministry on this initiative, stated the auction would help to “put Georgia on the collectors’ map.”
The South Caucasus nation promotes itself as wine’s birthplace, citing archaeological findings that show an unbroken winemaking heritage spanning 8,000 years.
Stalin, a Georgian native who ruled the Soviet Union from 1924 until 1953, had a passion for drinking and collecting wine.
His collection features bottles from Bordeaux’s premier estates that previously belonged to Russian Tsar Alexander III and his son Nicholas II. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, Soviet forces confiscated the Imperial Romanov wine collection, with Stalin serving as its custodian while gradually incorporating his preferred Georgian wine varieties.
Wine collector Victor Chen, who made the journey from Dallas, Texas to view the collection, expressed enthusiasm while examining the dust-laden bottles containing amber-colored wine.
“I feel like you’re Indiana Jones opening up a cave: it could be nothing, it could be something,” Chen commented, making reference to the adventurous movie character.
“There’s not many things that are still historical moments at this point. And this could be one of them.”
