NOTHING TO WINE ABOUT

Legendary Wine Hidden by the Nazis Restored After 130 Years

The bottles survived WWII and decades of communist rule.

Eight bottles of one of the most prestigious wines on the planet, suspected of being squirreled away by the Nazis, have been restored by the Château that made them. The bottles of Château d’Yquem, made around 130 years ago, are thought to have survived both WWII and decades of communist occupation. The sweet whites from Sauternes in Bordeaux, France, mostly made between 1892 and 1896, were discovered in 1985 beneath the floorboards of the Czech castle of Becov nad Teplou, where they will now go on display. They belonged to the Beaufort-Spontin family, who fled the country after the war, suspected of collaborating with the Nazis, CBS News reported. However, the wine was left in place until 10 years ago, after which laboratory tests confirmed it was genuine and restoration began. Toni El Khawand, the cellar master of d’Yquem told AFP, “We tasted a very small quantity to be sure that, aromatically and in terms of balance on the palate and overall perception, the wine corresponded to a Chateau d’Yquem of that age.”