By MATTHEW ROSE
With a world-class wine cellar auctioning off some of its holdings, many collectors are hoping for bargains
PARIS—"Our wines live in total darkness," said David Ridgway. The head sommelier of the fabled Left Bank restaurant La Tour d'Argent was half gliding, half trotting, like a well-heeled hobbit, through a maze of chilly, damp and dimmed alleys buried two stories below the Quai de Tournelle. Pointing to the high wooden racks holding thousands of bottles of precious French vintages, he added, "Watch your step."One of the world's top wine specialists, Mr. Ridgway has been carefully creating this world-class cellar of 420,000 bottles for nearly three decades, handpicking bottles directly from producers and maintaining the cellar at a constant 12 degrees Celsius (about 54 degrees Fahrenheit) and 85% humidity. "Each bears a small tower—the crest of La Tour d'Argent—indicating they arrived as two-year-olds," Mr. Ridgway explains proudly. "And they stay for the rest of their lives."
La Tour d'Argent
From left: Château Mouton Rothschild (1970), Pétrus (1983), Vosne-Romanée Henri Jayer (1988), a 1947 rum, Vieux Cognac 'Clos du Griffier' Café Anglais (1788)
Well, not all of them.
On Dec. 7 and 8, some 18,000 bottles, a little more than 4% of La Tour d'Argent's holdings, are slated for auction at Piasa's Salon Hoche in Paris. With expected proceeds of an estimated €1 million, or about $1.5 million, the event is one of the most eagerly anticipated Paris wine auctions since Mayor Bertrand Delanöe sold off former Mayor Jacques Chirac's Bordeaux collection in 2006.
Proceeds, Mr. Ridgway says, will go to replenish the cellar with 2009 wines and refurbish the centuries-old restaurant upstairs, restoring luster to its panoramic view of Notre Dame, the Seine and the rooftops of the capital. Founded in 1582, La Tour d'Argent has served kings, queens and presidents.
The auction of high-end Premier Cru (first growth) Bordeaux classics—such as Château Latour, Lafite-Rothschild, Mouton-Rothschild, Ausone, Haut-Brion, Cheval Blanc and Château Margaux—doesn't include very many of the most sought-after vintages, such as 1945s, and just one Pétrus, a magnum from 1983, with an estimate of €900, or about $1,350. Among the Burgundies, which now make up 60% of the cellar, are Meursault Clos de la Barre Lafon, Puligny Montrachet Referts Sauzet and Vosne Romanée Jayer, but none of the crowning glories of Pinot Noir like La Tâche and Romanée Conti, which are kept under lock and key in the cave.
Three bottles of pre-Revolutionary Vieux Cognac "Clos du Griffier" from 1788 will be offered, with an estimate of €2,500 each. La Tour d'Argent inherited them when its owner, André Terrail, married the daughter of the owner of Paris's famed Café Anglais. He merged the fungus-covered bottles into his restaurant cellars in 1914, and they haven't moved since. "They are very drinkable. The last one I had was perfect," Mr. Ridgway says. "The fungus is actually a good sign and an excellent preservative—on the outside of the bottle, that is."
Provenance and conservation are meaningful to wine collectors, as well as to the restaurants Piasa expects to bid. Yet in some cases, the auction estimate is less than the price for the same bottle on La Tour d'Argent's 400-page wine list. Piasa, not La Tour d'Argent, made the estimates. "We developed the estimates based upon the market, without considering the prestige of La Tour d'Argent," says Alexis Velliet, Piasa director and auctioneer. "It is difficult to say how much provenance adds to the value of the bottle," he adds. "Only the buyers know."
Price inflation and insatiable global demand from buyers including oil-rich Russians and Chinese industrial magnates have made the top French wines unaffordable. The auction's low estimates tell of prices paid for grand cru wines before the market took off in the late 1970s. "In 1982, I bought 15 cases of the 1982 Pétrus," says Mr. Ridgway. "At 142 francs per bottle [about $30], I knew I was acquiring an amazing wine. It was a giveaway!"
The cellar at La Tour d'Argent.
Some believe the low estimates are meant to whet buyers' interest. "Estimates for many lots are extremely low and will probably go for twice what's marked in the catalog," said Romik Arconian, a Paris rare-wine merchant, who says he intends to bid on a few lots.
"If it's a '47 Pétrus, great, but if it's a Volnay—who cares? You can buy that in the street," Mr. Givton continues. "If they were serious, they would sell 100,000 bottles and throw in some of the real treasures—their fantastic first growth Bordeaux, La Tâche, old Château d'Yquems…stuff like that."
André Terrail, the third-generation owner of La Tour d'Argent, disagrees. "We have La Tâche and Romanée Conti, but we have very few," he explained. "These aren't difficult to sell. What we're selling is overstock. Not a single bottle that we aren't proud of. All the wines offered in the sale are still on the menu."
One wine expert who will most certainly bid is ... David Ridgway. "I'm not a wine nut, and wine is not my religion," he says. "And yes, I'll probably be bidding—but for the wines no one else wants, because, well, I know they will be good."
—Matthew Rose is a writer and artist based in Paris.
