240-year-old sherry for Putin was written off for less than a dollar

Photo: the press service of the President of Russia

The collection bottle of sherry, which was opened for Putin and Berlusconi during their joint visit to the Crimea, was estimated at sixty cents and written off, says Ukrainian Center for Investigative Journalism.

In total, five bottles of the unique collection wine “Jerez de la Frontera” from the 1775 harvest were stored in Crimea, which was brought from Spain by the founder of “Massandra”, Count Mikhail Vorontsov. On the day of the visit of Berlusconi and Putin, Yanina Pavlenko, appointed by the new Crimean authorities as the general director of NPA Massandra, during a visit to the wine company by politicians, personally uncorked one of the bottles for them.

Photo: the press service of the President of Russia

Ukrainian journalists claim that at Sotheby's auction in 2001, a similar bottle was sold for fifty thousand dollars, and now the cost of a bottle of such wine, according to various estimates, ranges from 100 to 150 thousand dollars.

Meanwhile, in addition to the rarity sherry, three dozen bottles of collection wine were put on the table for the distinguished guests.

The Center for Investigative Journalism has obtained documents from which it follows that the head of the collection wine shop, Elena Batrak, in a memo to the director of Massandra, Yanina Pavlenko, asks for permission to serve 31 bottles of wine for “carrying out protocol and organizational events” on the occasion of the arrival of President Vladimir Putin. There is no date on the note, but it is indicated that the issue was agreed upon with the Ministry of Property and Land Relations of Crimea on September 11, that is, on the day of Putin and Berlusconi’s visit to the plant.

The following is a list of wines, the number of bottles of each item and their estimated cost. Judging by the invoice, a bottle of the collection wine “Jerez de la Frontera” from the 1775 vintage costs 44 rubles 12 kopecks – the same as the “Massandra” sherry from the 1955 vintage and the “Massandra” Madeira from the 1936 vintage.

In total, 31 bottles of collectible and rare wines were written off by Massandra officials for a total amount of 935 rubles 97 kopecks.

At the same time, the consignment note for the transportation of these bottles to the tasting room, as follows from the document signed by the sales department manager Mityaev, was issued only on September 16, i.e. backdating.

Massandra wants to sell the same sherry from 1775 for one million euros at auction

Massandra General Director Yanina Pavlenko told reporters that the company will put up for auction a 1775 Sherry de la Frontera, similar to the one drunk by Putin and Berlusconi. The company plans to earn at least a million euros for a bottle of wine, TASS reports.

“The cost of a bottle of Jerez de la Frontera wine stored in our collection has now increased at least tenfold. I am sure that the interest shown in the plant’s collection by the world’s media and wine connoisseurs will be reflected in its price and will increase competition for the right to own one of the oldest bottles in the world,” Pavlenko is sure.

The location of the auction and the initial price of the bottle have not yet been announced.

The head of the territorial administration of the President of Russia in Crimea, which is in charge of Massandra, Oleg Podolko, believes that funds from the sale of a unique enoteca exhibit can be used to modernize the enterprise. “No wine in history has received so much attention,” Podolko said. – Wealthy collectors in China, East Asia and the Middle East are showing increased interest in rare and unusual antiquities, which are becoming less and less available for sale. The funds that can be raised from the sale of Massandra wine will be an excellent investment in the modernization of production.”