A man who claims to be behind the extraordinary video showing a group of people using £100,000 worth of Queen Elizabeth’s favourite wine to make sangria has revealed exactly why he carried out the crazy stunt.
In one video, customers at the La Guérite restaurant on the island of Sainte-Marguerite, opposite Cannes, can be seen cheering and whistling as they mixed two vintages of the world-famous Petrus, along with ice cubes, oranges and other ingredients. One man is seen licking a bottle as he poured its contents into the bowl.
Party-goers, whose names have not yet been released, were seen pouring the vintages – a 2006 vintage that costs around €3,800 (£3,200) a bottle, and a 2011 vintage that costs around €3,200 (£2,700) – on August 10. But it was not until French newspaper La Figaro picked up the story that condemnation became widespread.
Now one of the men, who claimed to be an entertainment executive, has revealed that he poured ten bottles of Petrus into the bowl because he needed to hit a minimum spend of €100,000 on a premium table for a charity concert organised by legendary electronic label Keinemusik.
The executive, who did not want to be named, told MailOnline: “I was bored of ordering champagne to meet the minimum for the table at a private event where Keinemusik was performing. That’s the story behind the story.”
‘I only chose Petrus because it was the most expensive item on the menu per bottle.’
The vintages, a 2006 which costs around €3,800 (£3,200) a bottle, and a 2011 which costs around €3,200 (£2,700), were used to make the concoction.
A video shows customers at the La Guérite restaurant on the island of Sainte-Marguerite, opposite Cannes, cheering and whistling as they mixed two world-renowned Petrus vintages in a glass bowl.
The executive shared a receipt from La Guérite that was apparently printed on August 9 and shows a total bill of almost €114,000.
When asked what he thought about spending that exorbitant sum of money on alcohol, he simply said: “I don’t know. I just don’t care, I guess.”
“I wanted to see Keinemusik with my friends and $100,000 was the price.”
The charity event, which took place on August 9, saw the brand raise money for the Holy Family Foundation, a charity dedicated to housing orphaned children.
The executive shared a receipt from La Guérite that was apparently printed on August 9 and shows a total bill of almost €114,000.
Of that total, €80,000 was spent on Petrus wine, he said. He told MailOnline that while La Guérite usually sells bottles of Petrus at a much higher price, he was given a 20% discount because he is a “regular customer who spends a lot there”.
His viral stunt divided opinions, particularly in France. Philippe Faure-Brac, a renowned sommelier, told The Times it was “like using a Picasso or a Van Gogh to make fire”.
‘It is a wine with a gastronomic vocation par excellence. Why not enjoy it in a very festive way? Putting it in a sangria is not its vocation.’
The executive and his friends bought 10 bottles of Petrus (pictured)
Only 30,000 bottles of Petrus are produced each year.
They bought the expensive bottles because they wanted to meet the minimum spending at the restaurant.
He responded to the allegations, telling MailOnline: “I’m not telling you how to eat your steak or drink your favourite drink. It’s just wine, after all. I don’t understand why people have such strong opinions on these things.”
Petrus became a favourite of the then Princess Elizabeth in the 1940s, after Marie-Louise Loubat, his owner at the time, sent a box to the UK.
She fell in love with the red wine and later invited Loubat to serve it at her wedding.
The wine was also served to John F. Kennedy and his wife Jackie, both well-known Francophiles who declared their love for wine, greatly increasing its popularity in the US.
The vineyard produces only 30,000 bottles of Petrus per year on its 10 hectares of land.
Legendary wine critic Robert Parker previously said of the 2006 Petrus that it had “notes of sweet caramelized black cherries and wild berries with plenty of spice, earth and a hint of herbaceousness.”
He said the 2011 vintage had “subdued but intriguing aromas of kirsch, raspberry jam, wood spice and blackberries.”