From Bordeaux to Tbilisi: the search for Stalin’s secret multimillion-dollar wine cellar

Posted on 21 August, 2020

Stolen from a Csar, hidden from Hitler and found by a Sydney wine merchant…

Meet John Baker. John was a hotelier and rock ’n’ roll promoter in the 80s era of Midnight Oil, INXS and Cold Chisel and yes, it was as cool as it sounds.

Later on, John became a wine merchant creating a number of fine wine stores as well as import business Bordeaux Shippers. As you might realise by now—John has some great stories. But perhaps none as thrilling as his journey to buy Stalin’s secret multimillion-dollar wine cellar.

This journey is the subject of his new book—Stalin’s Wine Cellar—written in conjunction with Nick Pace.

In an adventure that took John from Sydney’s Double Bay to Tbilisi, Georgia via the streets of Paris, the vineyards of Bordeaux and the iconic Château d’Yquem, John found himself in Stalin’s cellar—the Raiders of the Lost Ark of wine.

Ahead of John’s online In Conversation event on Wednesday 26 August, presented by Harry Hartog, we caught up with the vino enthusiast himself.

How did you first find out about the possibility of Stalin’s wine cellar actually existing?

In my wine store operations, our speciality was old and rare wines and buying whole cellars.

This opportunity came from one of the opportunistic characters, Harry Zuckor, who would bring us cellars or interesting lots of wine.

What was the most intriguing/special wine in the collection, and did you have a chance to sample any?

The 217 bottles of Chateau d’Yquem from the 1800s and early 1900s represented about half the value of the whole cellar of 40,000 bottles.

We did taste the 1870 but under the dramatic circumstances it took place…I was in shock and cannot really remember what it was like. But it was exceptional.

The labyrinth of bureaucracy is always a difficult one to tackle let alone in another country—how would you describe the experience?

Exceedingly difficult and it was a moveable feast the whole time.

Obtaining clearance from customs and necessary paperwork to validate the wines was an adventure of its own.

Your journey involves some of the most famous names in history—did you have to do research before you embarked on the adventure and were you at any stage concerned what you might discover?

We did little research before departing as we were single-mindedly interested in authenticating what might be an incredible wine treasure.

Has this experience created a desire to continue looking for rare and obscure finds in the name of oenology?

The opportunity to find such rarities is so rare, one can only hope they might find you.

Feature image: Anna Webster