Boutique Bordeaux comes to Paris

The largest Bordeaux wine shop in the world opened in Paris last month, with the owner considering expanding the franchise to other department stores around the world.

The 250 metre-squared Bordeauxthèque is dedicated solely to wines from Bordeaux and contains over 12,000 bottles of wine from 1,800 producers ranging from AC Bordeaux at €3.90 all the way up to Château Mouton Rothschild 1945 at €20,000.

The Bordeauxthèque, which is located within the existing “Bibliothèque des Vins”, is part of Lafayette Gourmet in the Galeries Lafayette on Boulevard Haussman.

Nine major châteaux, including Mouton Rothschild, Lafite, Pétrus and Cheval Blanc, are each represented by 32 vintages, and 24 vintages of Yquem from 1896 to 2006 are on offer, as are large format bottles including a Nebuchadnezzar of Lynch-Bages 2000 for €7,000.

This adds to the existing collection in the Bibliothèque of over 1,600 wines and 700 spirits and eaux de vies.

The new cellar is owned and run by the Bordeaux merchant Duclot, itself owned by Jean-Francois and his son Jean Mouiex of Pétrus.

Jean Mouiex has hinted that if it proves successful he would consider opening similar ventures in Galeries Lafayette’s other stores in Berlin and Shanghai.

The Duclot group also owns two retail outlets in Bordeaux and several warehouse stores in Paris, allowing them access to over five million bottles of Claret overall.

One of the main advantages for the wine collector concerned with provenance is that all the bottles are traceable to either Duclot’s own cellars or the châteaux themselves.

A team of sommeliers are on hand to provide assistance to any customers, expert or amateur, left bewildered by the vast array of wines on offer.

Plans are also afoot to rent the space out for dinners and tastings.

Rupert Millar, 07.06.2010