We are still in the area of the cellar where the wine has been placed in racks according to its region of France (see middle photo) - Valley of the Rhone, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Loire, Provence.The main photo, taken without flash, is very grainy I know, but actually that's how it was - an incredibly dimly lit cellar and quite magical. This shows wine from just one of the regions listed above. We are looking at one of the aisles leading off the main avenue in the middle photo.
The last photo shows a trolley used to transport the wine.
The cellar, being 10 metres below ground level, and hewn out of Monaco's rock, has a constant temperature and humidity level of between 75 per cent and 80 percent. Humidity preserves the quality of the corks. Iorio Gennaro, the Chef Caviste, describes the cork as the 'lungs of a bottle.' A dry cork lets air into the bottle and oxidizes the wine, which makes it undrinkable - i.e. corked.
How lucky you are to visit this cellar !!
ReplyDeletethanks to share with us :o)
This is unbelievable.
ReplyDeleteIt looks very clean and organized - although I bet inventory is no easy task.
Jilly, how many square meters is this cellar? It looks enormous.
Maria, it's 1,500 square metres with one and a half kilometres of wine rack space!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting info, its incredible the cost of this bottles, a lot more of a Leica, Nikon or Canon. Thanks again for show us this place!
ReplyDeleteHee! I bet we could have some fun in there!
ReplyDelete1,500 square meters of THAT!
ReplyDeleteA drunken's paradise!
No, I should say a connoisseur's paradise, because I doubt there's bad wine in there!
I know a couple of ladies who could probably drink this cellar dry at one sitting!
ReplyDeleteThat's a lot of wine!
ReplyDelete