As I read it, it plans to share it all at some point- Then again not sure how good the translation was.
People restore and drive classic cars. People restore and fly historic planes. Same goes for boats. There are some huge historic/vintage car racing events. There’s a major mindset that part of the appreciation of those things is to use them. Yes, mostly not recklessly. Mostly. Where that mindset fits with the wine world is in that same middle ground. You consume some as part of the appreciation of your collection. (The idea of aiming for zero bottles by your time of death is sad, too.)
There are different mindsets in stamp and coin collecting. If viewed as an asset, the pristine unused hold more value. This reality has been perverted and compromised with stamps and coins made to go directly to collectors, with zero intent for use. How f’ing lame is that? No longer some anomaly. A more pathetic thing we see is restaurants with prestige bottles out on display at warm ambient temperatures, sometimes getting direct sunlight. Ugh! One of the most wine friendly restaurants around here has a display of empty bottles. It’s an impressive selection of wines that were opened there. That shows utter respect for wine. Museum-like.
Even if he does not intend to drink them I’ve no doubt the wines will get consumed one day. Eventually someone down the line will see the value as too great and it will be the biggest auction ever. If it doesn’t happen for 50 years who cares as long as they are being stored properly? I’m pretty sure if someone did this 80 years ago and wines from the 20’s and 30’s were being set free today it would be the biggest thing to ever happen in the wine world. The collection will have its day at some point.
When you drive a classic car, you do not diminish the value of the asset. Once you open a bottle, you’ve exchanged its value for a memory. Personally, even though I collect a few things that can, are used on a daily basis, some collectibles need to remain in the original package behind glass. That’s the point.
However, all my wines are for opening. But as a collector, I get the logic behind the simple act of putting together a collection, simply for the passion and challenge. History, especially cultural history is better thanks to private collectors. Without their efforts, many great historical items could have been lost.
Strange things happen in the world. Somebody who buys luxury wines only for looking at them is a minor problem in comparison. I don’t understand this man’s idea. But I don’t understand many things people are doing. Just one more occasion.
BTW: I met a similar “collector” in the past. He showed me his cellar which was impressive but not comparable to this wine museum. He rarely drank wine and when he opened a bottle it was an average one. When I asked him why he didn’t open the superb wines he answered: Did you ever see a stamp collector who put one of his babies on an envelope for sending a letter?
Aubert de Villaine went into the HdV venture precisely to make quality wines that people would actually consume. There is a point where things get too crazy.
Sorry, when you drive a classic car you do diminish the value of the asset. You pump money into it to restore and maintain its value. The equivalent to that in wine is to buy by the case, wait until the wine should be ready to open the first bottle, gradually popping further bottles over the years and never quite getting to the last few.
If I respect the search that Michel Chasseuil made to have the rarest wines in his cellar, I am completely against the fact to keep wines which will never be drunk.
The Yquem 1811 which is a legendary wine, when it will be empty because of evaporation, it will be a crime.
Michel Chasseuil should let his wines be drunk.
I have personnally made something which corresponds to my vision :
A collection of opened wine bottles say a lot more than unopened ones. It sings all the memories that was shared, the people that were present, the time, the place.
Francois, your video was just beautiful!
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Subu,
Thank you for the message.
When I began drinking very old wines, I kept some empty bottles because it is nicer to have the bottle than just the label, specially when the bottle itself is very nice.
Then I had the idea of making a museum, but I did not see myself obliged to manage it. So I kept bottles with the idea that one day it could be useful to something.
I kept also the corks, thinking than one day it could help someone who would like to study the properties of the corks.
Today, if I knew that a museum, somewhere, would like to keep these bottles, I would be happy and I would give the nicest pieces in order that people dream when looking at them.
If it does not happen, my children will never sell the bottles and will destroy them if no institution takes them as I do not want that these bottles help to make fakes. And I trust in my children.
Bumping this old thread with an article today on this massive collection with exceedingly rare bottles, and quite sadly, never to be consumed.
Jeff, you and I have very different tastes in wine but one thing I love about your passion for wine is how much you love to drink it and share it with others. Very different from the collector in the OP. [It may bother both you and Robert to compare you two but I love the passion both of you have for enjoying wine and in this way you two seem very much alike.]
Clearly collecting stamps and coins was just a launching pad to a greater compulsion. Wonder if he has any heirs to inherit this.
Be philosophical. Just think how many bottles in there must be corked, you have saved yourself a mass of disappointment by not having that collection.
How would a museum of wine in a cellar work? You just walk past boxes of Petrus and then what?
After the tour, I am sure for a small donation you can open a wine of your choosing. 
Imagine if this were cheese: how stinky would that get?!
Antony Barton once said that the most important investment for a wine collector is buying a corkscrew. I could not agree more.
what a waste
This is such a sad story. Makes me sick to my stomach that somebody would do this to such iconic bottles…