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French president Francois Hollande's wine auction went exceedingly well last weekend. The sale of the 1,200 wine bottles from the presidential wine cellar raised nearly $1 million, United Press International reports.
The auctioned wines, which represented only 10 percent of the wines at the Elysee Palace, raked in $931,964 (718,800 euros). Buyers from all over the world participated in the auction held at the Drouot Hall in Paris.
The biggest sellers were a bottle of 1990 Chateau Pétrus, which sold for $9,897 (7625 euros), and a bottle of 1982 Chateau Latour for $6,003 (4,625 euros).
Hollande's wine sale was motivated by a budget crunch. He has indicated some of the money will be used to buy new wines while the surplus will go towards balancing the state budget, according to Radio France International.
