Former footballer reveals 50,000 bottle wine cellar and love of DRC

A retired Arsenal and Juventus footballer has revealed that he has spent a large proportion of his earnings on building an extensive wine cellar.

Ex-Arsenal star Nicklas Bendtner told the Daily Mail that “money goes fast when you spend £140,000 on wine”.

Bendtner, who is still only 36 years old, played for top-tier sides such as Arsenal, Juventus and Nottingham Forest, during a challenging career that saw the former teenage star retire at the age of 33.

He was also an international footballer, earning his first cap for Denmark at the tender age of 18. And it was while on international duty that he first got into wine.

Purchases

Speaking to the Mail, Bendtner said: “On the back seats of the Denmark bus, all the older players would always talk about wine. I collected wine since I was 19.

“When the team met on Monday we would all bring one bottle and taste it. We would have four glasses on the Monday night and talk about the wine. I’ve got something like 50 thousand bottles of wine now. You know Romanée-Conti? £15,000 per bottle, £140,000 per case. You would buy one case to sell and one to drink.

“When I was 24 I had spent basically all I had but I had bought wine, property, art. The cash flow completely broke. I was left quite alone with my money. I had a lot of support in the club but not so much outside of the pitch.

One of the beautiful things I love about myself is that I like to experience different things. I will never say “No, I don’t want to try” – I would rather go and try it. The money goes fast when you buy £150,000 wine.”

Scandi love

There is a specific love of DRC and Burgundy wines in Scandanavia. In February, a group of passionate wine lovers queue in tents outside a store in Oslo for the latest bottles of Burgundy wines.

The queue is a result of Norway’s unusual alcohol laws, which mean that the government-owned retailer, Vinmonopolet are the only company allowed to sell alcohol over 4.75% ABV in the country. The government releases the latest set of wines from Burgundy, with a ticketing system in place for fans hoping to get a bottle of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC) or Domaine Armand Rousseau, such is the demand.

Speaking to db about the latest vintage from the DRC, co-director of the domaine, Bertrand de Villaine, said: “Romanée-Conti is another universe.

“Even in a difficult vintage everything is always racy and elegant. It is not an explosive show off, but it feels solid in the mouth – you have so much material.”