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Stalin's Wine Cellar

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Stalin's Wine Cellar

By: John Baker, Nick Place
Narrated by: Simon Burke
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About this listen

 In the late 1990s, John Baker was known as a purveyor of quality rare and old wines. Always entrepreneurial and up for adventure, he was the perfect person for an occasional business partner to approach with a mysterious wine list that was foreign to anything John, or his second-in-command, Kevin Hopko, had ever come across.

The list was discovered to be a comprehensive catalogue of the wine collection of Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia. The wine had become the property of the state after the Russian Revolution of 1918, during which Nicholas and his entire family were executed. Now owned by Stalin, the wine was discreetly removed to a remote Georgian winery when Stalin was concerned the advancing Nazi army might overrun Russia, and inevitably loot artefacts and treasures. Half a century later, the wine was rumoured to be hidden underground and off any known map.

John and Kevin embarked on an audacious, colourful and potentially dangerous journey to Georgia to discover if the wines actually existed; if the bottles were authentic and whether the entire collection could be bought and transported to a major London auction house for sale.

Stalin's Wine Cellar is a wild, sometimes rough ride in the glamorous world of high-end wine. From Double Bay Sydney to Tbilisi Georgia, via the streets of Paris, the vineyards of Bordeaux and iconic Ch�teau d'Yquem. A multimillion dollar cellar and a breathtaking collection of wine (and one very expensive broken bottle) is the elusive treasure. The cast of characters include Stalin, Hitler, Tsar Nicholas II and a motley bunch of Georgian businessmen/cowboys toting handguns, in the early days of Russian business development that led to the world of Putin and oligarchs. Adventure Travel Adventurers, Explorers & Survival Europe Military Russia Stalin
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Cracking good read particularly loved the description of Bordeaux region. If you enjoy wine it will put a smile on my face.

Vintage

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I really enjoyed this audio book. it's not what I would usually listen to being a fan of fantasy novels.
For me, this is one of those novels that I thoroughly enjoyed for a change of pace. it was well written, nothing too complicated, and I never knew which h way it was going to go.
I think the fact that it's a telling of a true story made the final outcome unpredictable, because there was no end goal for the writer as far as the story's ending. He was just writing what actually happened.
Overall, thouroughly enjoyable, compelling story with a fantastic performance in my opinion from the narrator.

This was an interesting, well written story, with great voice acting.

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Fantastic adventure. Loved every minute. Canadians are extremely corny. But mean well.
Recommend this book. Eastern Europeans also hit different

Cracker

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Not my regular genre, did it for bookclub and grateful that I did! Cracking story with many highs and lows. The interplay of history, adventure, wine expertise and international friendships made this book great to listen to. Beautifully narrated.

Enjoyed everything about this book

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The narrator was great. .I loved the story and would recommend this book for a good read!

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