Discovering Stalin's million-dollar wine cellar
Wine merchant John Baker on his quest to buy a cellar of wine reported to belong to the last Tsar of Russia and later hidden away by Josef Stalin.
In 1998, Australian wine merchant John Baker was puzzled when he received a cryptic message and a list of wines he, on initial inspection, had never heard of. Once he cracked the code, he realised it was a cellar of around 40,000 bottles - including some of the most expensive wines ever produced. It was being offered for a million dollars, and had apparently been hidden away in the republic of Georgia by former head of the Soviet Union, Josef聽Stalin. Could he secure a deal?
This programme was first broadcast in December 2020.
Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com
Presenter: Jo Fidgen
Producer: Katy Takatsuki
(Photo: John Baker in the wine cellar. Credit: John Baker)
'Stalin's Wine Cellar' is by John Baker and Nick Place
Last on
Broadcasts
- Sat 31 Dec 2022 09:32GMT91热爆 World Service West and Central Africa
- Sat 31 Dec 2022 19:32GMT91热爆 World Service News Internet
- New Year's Day 2023 00:32GMT91热爆 World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- New Year's Day 2023 09:32GMT91热爆 World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
- New Year's Day 2023 19:32GMT91热爆 World Service
- New Year's Day 2023 22:32GMT91热爆 World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
Contact Outlook
Info on how we might use your contribution on air
Podcast: Lives Less Ordinary
Step into someone else鈥檚 life and expect the unexpected