Tbilisi uncorked

A ripping yarn ... Stalin and the Tsar's wine cellar ... Adventures in Georgia with George and Nino ... Hunting for Chateau d'Yquem ... Justinian's wine correspondent Gabriel Wendler recalls a lasting taste memory ... History and geography ... Raiders of the Lost Wine 

Wine lovers  will find Stalin's Wine Cellar a  ripping yarn. May I suggest it for your summer reading list. 

The book reports an astonishing and truthful account of a happenstance discovery by a Sydney wine merchant of an Aladdin's Cave of 19^th century French wines in Tbilisi, the capital city of Georgia. 

Allegedly, this wine once belonged to Tsar Nicholas II and was subsequently purloined by, Ioseb Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, the feared and merciless dictator known as Stalin. 

Curiously, it is only this year upon publication of the book that wine historians have become familiar with this  Boy's Own wine adventure story.

The author, John Baker, and his wine knowledgeable companion "Kevin" decide to embrace an irresistible challenge and travel to Georgia for the purpose of negotiating the purchase of Stalin's Wine Cellar for US$1 million. 

The adventure took place between July 1999 and September 2003 and, as explained by Baker, "whichever way this went it was not going to be boring".

With only four days in Tbilisi to inspect and catalogue the bottles in Stalin's cellar the intrepid John and Kevin are nevertheless able to acquaint us with the manners and customs of the Georgians. 

Their journey confronts the reality and frustration of post-Soviet era bureaucracy, especially its easy accommodation of corruption. 

There are a host of colourful characters: "George", the ambiguous conduit to the famed hidden cellar some three floors below a derelict Tbilisi winery known as "Savane Number One". 

There's "Nino" the pistol packing chauffeur of a black Mercedes convinced that Georgia's speed limits are to incite, rather than deter, dangerous driving. 

Following the Russian revolution the Tsar's possessions were confiscated by the Soviet State. Tsar Nicholas II was an enthusiastic collector of French wines, particularly the wines of Ch. d'Yquem. 

In order to avoid Nazi expropriation Stalin, a Georgian by birth, moved a significant quantity of the Tsar's collection to Tbilisi.

According to "George" some 50,000 bottles of 19^th century wine lay in the Savane Number One cellars. 

Some 20,000 of the French bottles included an extraordinary quantity of Ch d'Yquem from various 19^th century  vintages including the legendary 1847. 

Together with 1921 d'Yquem, the 1847 is regarded as one of the greatest sweet wines ever made. 

Chateau d'Yquem

However, some critics regard the Tokay Essencia from the legendary Comet vintage of 1811 a more profound wine experience. 

About 25 years ago your correspondent was privileged to share, along with seven other chums, the very special experience of the 1921 d'Yquem. Its opulence remains a lasting taste memory.  

In a sense, the book could also be described as a paean to the wines of Ch. d'Yquem such is the author's adulation of this wine.

It is rightly regarded as one of the world's most expensive and impressive vins liquoreux. It's vineyards comprise a little over 3,300 acres of 80 percent Semillon and 20 percent Sauvignon Blanc. 

The chateau is located in Sauternes AC within the Bordeaux region and overlooks the equally high quality sweet wine producers of Ch. Lafaurie-Peyraguey, Ch. Guiraud, Ch. Rieussec and Ch. Filhot. 

The river Ciron divides Sauternes from the other famous sweet wine production area of Barsac, the home of the excellent and more approachable Ch. Climens and Ch. Coutet . 

In Sauternes and Barsac rotting grapes affected by botrytis cinerea or pourriture noble cause the berries to shrivel and split, evaporating water and increasing sugar content. 

At Ch. d'Yquem the "rotten grapes" are picked individually by a multitude of  pickers - vendangeuses -  traversing the vineyard many times.  Wine emperor Robert Parker writes: 

"Ch d'Yquem has a fanatical obsession with producing only the finest wines regardless of financial loss or trouble." 

One vine is claimed to produce one glass of Ch. d'Yquem.

The estate was formerly owned by the Comte de Lur Saluces. It was sold in 1997 to the  luxury goods conglomerate, LVMH. It produces about 100,000 bottles a year. In some years such as 1930, 1931 1951, 1952, 1964 and 1974 it is not produced because of the poor quality of the grapes. 

2001 is the best vintage to date, certainly since 1990. The chateau also produces a dry white wine simply called "Y".

What ultimately became of Stalin's wine cellar, and the attempt by the adventurers to purchase it, can be discovered during your holiday reading.   

Stalin's Wine Cellar, Viking - Penguin Random House, $34.99 

From Gabriel Dominicus Wendler, 7 Windeyer Chambers, Sydney