FRANCE: PARIS: MAXIM'S RESTAURANT VINTAGE WINE AUCTION

(4 Jun 1997) French/Nat

More than eight thousand bottles of vintage wine went under the auctioneer's hammer on Wednesday in Paris as the famous restaurant - Maxim's cleared out its cellar.

The vintage wines were sold in lots of 12 bottles - among them a Mouton Rothschild 1945 initial bidding price 19-thousand dollars (U-S) but which went for more than 82- thousand dollars (U-S).

Maxim's equally famous owner - fashion guru Pierre Cardin said the wines had to go to make way for new stock.

Maxim's in Paris auctioned off eight thousand bottles from the famed restaurant's cellar to make room for new vintages and raise a bit of money in the process.

Going on the block were such gems as 12-bottle lots of 1928 Haut-Brion and 1945 Mouton-Rothschild. The Rothschild was estimated at 19-thousand dollars for the lot but went for 82-thousand 396 dollars (U-S).

Maxim's caves hold 100-thousand bottles: a collection that would take approximately 40 years to exhaust. At this rate, some of the older vintages risk losing their drinkability.

Instead, Cardin decided to let them go, and replace them with a collection of newer vintages such as 1980s Bordeaux.

SOUNDBITE: (French)
This auction is the first ever by maxim's. Never has a Maxim restaurant sold any of its wine in an auction, and this is one of the reasons-since as you can see there is a tremendous quantity of wine- why we are obliged to sell. The quality of the wine might not qualify as drinkable, and secondly we need to put in some new wines. So there are wines that unfortunately we must part with, now that they have passed their prime. And we simply need more room.
SUPER CAPTION: Pierre Cardin, Owner of Maxim's

Cardin outlined some of the key things buyers would be looking for.

UPSOUND: (French)
This bottle from 1908 has clearly been well preserved and you will see that there is a noticeable space between the cork and the wine, which proves that time has passed. Very often when bottles are old there is quite a space difference between the cork and the wine, and that is very important.
SUPER CAPTION: Pierre Cardin, Owner of Maxim's

Collectors from around the world were on hand to participate in the unprecedented auction.

A truly Parisian event with world appeal is how owner Pierre Cardin presented Maxim's first ever wine auction.

The bottles were displayed and sold inside the restaurant on Rue Royale.

SOUNDBITE: (French)
There is a considerable international crowd. We have never seen a wine auction in France with as many countries and as many continents represented.
SUPER CAPTION: Jacques Tajan, auctioneer

Proceeds from some of the bottles will go to the Claude Pompidou Foundation, which cares for elderly and handicapped people.

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