On June 1, 2026, in the Czech Republic, a remarkable discovery was presented at Becov nad Teplou castle – eight bottles of Chateau d’Yquem wine, a prestigious sweet white wine from France, hidden for decades beneath the castle’s chapel floor.

This extraordinary collection was hidden alongside the Reliquary of St. Maurus, famous for allegedly containing the bones of St. John the Baptist. The wine belonged to the noble Beaufort-Spontin family, who departed Czechoslovakia hastily at the end of World War II due to suspicions of Nazi collaboration. It remained undiscovered until the 1980s.

Although the reliquary was swiftly taken to Prague for restoration, the wine remained at the castle. This situation persisted until 1984 when the Beaufort-Spontin family enlisted the help of American businessman Danny Douglas to retrieve their hidden treasures. However, his plans were intercepted by police during the permit process, leading to the discovery of the wine collection.

Ten years ago, a meticulous restoration operation began. Chateau d’Yquem led the efforts to restore their remarkable bottles, dating back to 1892 and 1896. Tests confirmed the authenticity of the wine, allowing for re-bottling and the preservation of five original bottles at Becov.

Toni El Khawand, the cellar master at Chateau d’Yquem, expressed the experience of tasting the wine as ‘magical.’ He emphasized the wine’s aromatic complexity, highlighting notes of cedar, dried fruit, and spices alongside mocha and chocolate. The remarkable freshness of the wine is preserved by its high sugar content.

Despite the potential for auctioning such prized wine, El Khawand emphasized its historical significance and moral value, describing it as a ‘liquid memory.’

The Becov castle plans to exhibit the wine collection, which includes various rare bottles of wine and cognac, with efforts underway to raise funds for the exhibition. The collections manager, Katerina Nyvltova, expressed hopes to analyze and recondition the rest of the wine collection.

The discovery coincides with Georgia’s unveiling of a two-century-old trove of rare wine bottles linked to historical figures Napoleon Bonaparte and Joseph Stalin, showcasing the global fascination with wine’s history.