Historic Wines in Stalin’s Wine Cellar

Selected names and dates from the 1999 account

This is a searchable extract of the English-language account supplied to this website. It is a selection of recorded producers and vintage ranges, rather than a complete bottle-by-bottle catalogue.

French and other European wines

• Château d’Yquem: vintages recorded from 1847 to 1924.

• Château Lafite Rothschild: 1877 to 1899.

• Château Latour: 1874 to 1909.

• Burgundy: the account includes Montrachet 1965.

• Vin de Constance: 1846 and other vintages.

• Madeira and Port: bottles dating to the 1800s.

• Cognac: examples dated to the 1700s.

Georgian wines and brandy

• Georgian brandy: 1834 to 1966.

• Kvareli: 1844 to 1946.

• Mukuzani: 1913 to 1954.

• Napareuli Red: 1918 to 1945.

• Teliani: 1917 to 1952.

• Tsinandali: 1918 to 1971.

A range gives the dates described in the account. It does not mean every intervening vintage was present, or establish how many bottles of a particular vintage remain today.

What was the oldest wine?

The oldest Château d’Yquem described in the 1999 account was the 1847 vintage. The account also records vodka dated 1725 and Georgian brandy dated 1834. Wine and spirit dates should be read as separate categories.

What did the wines taste like?

The historical account describes the wines tasted during the investigation as typical for their age. It identifies Château Suduiraut 1899 as outstanding. These are observations from that visit, not tasting notes for the collection’s present condition.

How to read an old-wine record

Producer name, vintage, bottle condition and ownership history answer different questions. A date on a label or in an inventory identifies what was recorded; assessing authenticity and provenance requires examining the available evidence. The original investigation involved assessing bottles, recording the collection and considering its potential value.

The bottle-rack photograph and handwritten inventory are primary archive material. The English producer list above comes from the supplied account. The handwritten Georgian page has not been presented here as a line-by-line English translation.

The 2026 reassessment

On 28 May 2026, Georgia’s National Wine Agency announced that identification and origin work would begin on the enoteca collection. Its preliminary estimate was up to 20,000 collectible bottles. The Ministry’s statement of 29 May also described the need to assess the collection’s current condition. These later assessments should be distinguished from the approximately 40,000-bottle estimate recorded in 1999.

National Wine Agency: opening and study announcement, 28 May 2026 · Ministry statement, 29 May 2026

Follow the dated cellar timeline · Explore Stalin’s Wine Cellar, the book · Interviews and archive photographs

Archive context: Kevin Hopko’s 1999 account and photographs supplied to this website. Updated 27 October 2026.