Auction

Reuters reports that Georgia has opened a Tbilisi vault containing roughly 40,000 French and Georgian wines once owned by Joseph Stalin, with plans to auction the collection and use proceeds to fund a wine education school. The bottles include 19th and 20th century rarities, some linked to the Romanov imperial collection, and officials hope the sale will raise Georgia’s profile among collectors.

Decanter reports that Christie’s charity auction of rare wines from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s cellar raised £517,910 for The Music in Secondary Schools Trust, with every lot sold and hammer proceeds going to a programme providing instruments, tuition and classical music education in schools. Highlights included a Château Margaux 1900 that sold for £35,000 and three bottles of Romanée-Conti Grand Cru 2005 that sold for £56,250 including buyer’s premium.