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Episode details

World Service,17 Dec 2020,44 mins

Discovering Stalin's million-dollar wine cellar

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Available for over a year

In 1998, Australian wine merchant John Baker was puzzled when he received a cryptic message and a list of wines he, on initial inspection, had never heard of. Once he cracked the code, he realised it was a cellar of around 40,000 bottles - including some of the most expensive wines ever produced. It was being offered for a million dollars, and had apparently been hidden away in the republic of Georgia by former head of the Soviet Union, Josef Stalin. Could he secure a deal? Any comments please email us on [email protected] Picture: John Baker in the wine cellar Credit: John Baker

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