French for Austerity: Presidential Palace Downgrading Wine Selection

Looking for cheaper alternatives to "invest in" (read: spend on)

Hundreds of bottles of fine French wines from the Presidential Elysée Palace's collection go to auction Thursday in a bid to raise cash to maintain a "more modest" collection.

Some 1,200 bottles – about 10 percent of the overall collection – go under the hammer at the Drouot auction house in Paris in a sale that organisers hope will raise more than 250,000 euros.

Prices range from up to 2,500 euros for a bottle of 1990 Château Petrus, all the way down to 15 euros for lesser vintages.