Maison Joseph Drouhin hides 3-acre cellar under Beaune, Burgundy

This is an unused portion of the hidden cellar.

Mason Joseph Drouhin has a 3-acre cellar built in the 1200s, catacombing under the city of Beaune. According the Jean-Pierre Cropsal, the winery's public relations officer, much of the building material is actually recycled from centuries previously. That's old and hidden under the city. It hasn't been until a couple of months ago that the winery allowed tourists into the cellar.

Here, aging under layers of mold, is a library of wines dating back to at least the 1980s. Many of the bottles and barrels are probably older, but I couldn't read the signs for the layers of fluffy mold.

Jean-pierre Cropsal pouring some Drouhin Burgundy in the hidden cellar. He says that the recycled stones surrounding him were placed in the 1200s.