Chirac's Parisian wine collection to be sold

Jacques Chirac did a lot more than run Paris during two decades as its flamboyant mayor before he went on to become premier of France.

Among other things, he collected 5,000 bottles of wine, a stash the city now wants to sell off.

The majority of the cellar's 5,000 most prestigious bottles, including several 1990 Château Pétrus, worth more than $1,800 each, are scheduled to be sold this fall. Bertrand Delanoë, the current mayor, said he expects the sale, which includes 191 bottles of 1976 Krug champagne, to raise about $700,000.

During his time as mayor of Paris, from 1977 to 1995, Chirac and his wife, Bernadette, were known for their penchant for food and wine on which they are said to have spent $2.7 million of taxpayers' money between 1987 and 1995 alone. Delanoë, who became mayor in 2001, has cut the wine and champagne budget by 65 per cent.

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