Greece's Minister of Culture Mrs Lina Mendoni announced on Sunday the discovery of a rare collection of wines and spirits belonging to the former Greek Royal Family claiming they were of "significant collector value, and of great scientific and research interest.”
Some 4,000 bottles of wines and spirits, many of them with labels of exceptional historical and artistic value, were discovered in the wine cellars in the Tatoi summer palace of the former Greek royal family.
Among the rare wines and spirits found in the royal basements was a special edition of Chivas whisky in a ceramic bottle, produced to mark the enthronement of Queen Elizabeth II in Britain, as well as a collection of bottles bearing the label of the estate.
The Minister of Culture added that the ministry is working with specialists and oenologists to evaluate the wine collection and to work out what part of the collection to display when the estate opens again as a museum.
“The Tatoi cellar, a historic collection over 50 years old, of exceptional cultural and oenological value once the museum has opened,” Mendoni said.
The recovery work is currently in progress and has so far found and catalogued more than 235 cases containing 4,000 bottles of wines and spirits.
Also discovered cans of locally made soft drinks, while some wines and spirits are considered fit for consumption, despite the suboptimal conditions.
Among the rare wines found in the collection are bottles of Château Margaux, Château de Vincennes and Château Rothschild