In the cellars of La Tour d’Argent are nearly 500,000 bottles of the best wine ever made. About 5 percent of it is heading for the auction block December 7 and 8 at PIASA auctioneers in Paris. An icon in the restaurant world with its windows looking out over the Seine and its ducks carefully tagged and numbered, La Tour d’Argent amassed over many decades the most extraordinary bottles of wine from France’s celebrated vineyards including Petrus, Cheval Blanc, Château La Tour, Château Margaux, Lafite-Rothschild and hundreds of others dating back across the 20th century – including a Cheval Blanc from 1928. (I don’t believe the estimate they put on this, even though the etiquette – label– was replaced at the Château – 700/800 euros. Unless of course, it’s based on the price they bought it for…in 1929!) The official reason for the sale is to make room for new wines, and probably punch up the place since La Tour shed another Michelin star in 2006. The former three-star jewel is down to one. Regardless of what Michelin thinks, the restaurant is still packed, and the wine is still top notch. What is unique about this sale is that the bottles were mostly likely moved only once: in the trip from their respective châteaux to the caves below the restaurant. So the provenance? Check. Quality? Check. Price? Check the estimates. Those Montrachets don’t look so pricey, actually.

Cellar photo courtesy of La Tour D’Argent