Bordeaux 2015 in the bottle
Credit: Decanter
(Image credit: Decanter)

UK officials are planning to demand a share of the European Union's 42,000 bottle wine cellar as part of Brexit talks, according to a report.

  • British officials reportedly eye share of 42k bottle EU wine cellar

  • Government to invoke Article 50 before end of March 2017

Article 50 is the route out of the EU, as set out in the bloc’s constitution.

UK officials face the task of disentangling the country from its various financial and legal ties with Brussels.

But, Britain’s civil servants are also keen to ensure that the UK gets its share of European assets, according to the Financial Times, citing unnamed sources.

This includes a portion of the EU wine cellar, as well as the EU art collection.

Details of the cellar’s contents are thin.

But, in 2012, a question in the European Parliament revealed that the European Commission had 15,500 bottles of wine in its cellar. The wines had a value of approximately €260,000.

The Council of Ministers was believed to have just over 27,000 bottles in its own cellar in 2012. This figure was not published but was reported by European affairs publication Politico, previously named European Voice.

Red wine made up nearly three quarters of that amount.

The UK has spent the last few years selling off bottles of wine from its own underground hospitality cellar near to Buckingham Palace.

Its plan has been to make the cellar self-financing. It’s possible that any wine acquired from Brexit negotiations could be used for a similar purpose.

Neither the European Commission nor the UK government’s department for exiting the European Union were immediately available for comment.

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Chris Mercer
Chris Mercer

Chris Mercer is a Bristol-based freelance editor and journalist who spent nearly four years as digital editor of Decanter.com, having previously been Decanter’s news editor across online and print.

He has written about, and reported on, the wine and food sectors for more than 10 years for both consumer and trade media.

Chris first became interested in the wine world while living in Languedoc-Roussillon after completing a journalism Masters in the UK. These days, his love of wine commonly tests his budgeting skills.

Beyond wine, Chris also has an MSc in food policy and has a particular interest in sustainability issues. He has also been a food judge at the UK’s Great Taste Awards.