Romanée-Conti, Clos de Vougeot, Petrus, Château d’Yquem… In the vaulted aisles of the cellars of the Hôtel de Paris, dug 150 years ago in the rock of Monaco, lies a treasure of 350,000 bottles waiting sometimes decades before being served.
At the bend of the modern and sanitized corridors of the basements of the luxurious hotel, owned by the Société des Bains de Mer (SBM), a large wooden door stands out, stamped with the inscription “1874”, a memory of the time when the tiny principality, just deprived of surrounding agricultural land, has focused on games and tourism.
Behind the dark green door, the cellars were initially a place for bottling wine arriving in barrels from the Bordeaux estates. Since the 1970s they have become “a place of breeding”, explains Gennaro Iorio, master wine merchant since 1993.
“We buy the wine directly from the castles and properties and we give it the storage conditions to age it and offer it for sale at the optimal time,” explains this Neapolitan who came to oenology by chance, after working at the casino. .
For this, the temperature is maintained all year round at 13.5/14 degrees and the humidity at 75/80%, “breeding and storage conditions, no service”.
Other cellars, installed in the hotels of the SBM, created in 1863 and 63% owned by the Monegasque State, accommodate the bottles ready to be uncorked in the group’s forty points of sale.
– Eclectic –
And business is booming, with more than 820 bottles opened per day, from room service to bars and nightclubs, including around twenty restaurants, several of which have Michelin stars.
A large number have passed through the approximately 1.5 km of wooden lockers with modular shelves in the century-old cellar, which currently has nearly 7,000 references. “It’s an eclectic selection, very rich,” relishes Mr. Iorio.
In the racks, the wines are classified by region, color, vintage… France reigns supreme, with only 5% of the bottles arriving from Italy or further afield. The purchasing budget exceeds 10 million euros per year.
A significant investment for bottles that can remain “in aging” for a long time. Thus, for the great Bordeaux wines, the cellar is currently releasing 2005 vintages purchased as primeurs in 2007.
If discreet cameras watch over the great wines, a few hundred Romanée-Conti wines, the most affected by speculation that can drive prices crazy, are entitled to an alcove closed by heavy gates.
But Gennaro Iorio is most proud of the small back room. During the Occupation, she hid Cognac, Armagnac and silverware behind rows of empty bottles.
It also served as a reception room for the princely family: Rainier III and Grace celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary there.
– Voluntary forgetting –
Since 1987, it has housed a “heritage reserve” of Burgundy wines, on which the cellars were behind.
“It’s wine that we choose to forget to create depth in the vintages,” explains the wine chef. “They are not the most expensive but certainly the rarest. They are here to ensure the future.”
Some historical pieces, gathered in a small display case, will never be opened.
Like a cognac from 1811 dedicated to the son of Napoleon I or a Mouton-Rothschild from 1945. Just admired by the rare visitors to the place.
Despite growing demand, the SBM reserves access to a handful of privileged clients, who are entitled to tastings, dinners or oenology classes under the humid vaults, often in the presence of owners of large estates whose production is ‘ripped off.
If the most precious wines are reserved for Alain Ducasse’s “Louis XV” (three stars), the bottles are all intended to be served in SBM establishments, such as Le Grill (one star), on the 8th floor of the ‘Hôtel de Paris, with a magnificent view of the casino and the sea.
“It’s valuable to have the power of the cellars,” explains the head sommelier, Mathias Negro, presenting a wine list where bottles range from 100 to several thousand euros. “We have an increasingly demanding clientele, who travel a lot and who compare a lot. There are never enough references!”
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