Entering the 900 square foot wine cellar of the Paris restaurant is like stepping inside an ancient fortress. Bottles are stored behind an antique metal gate which head sommelier David Ridgway keeps locked at all times.

Ridgway, an Englishman, has been with the Tour d'Argent since 1981. He's the one who selected the 18,000 bottles due to go under the hammer next week.

"It shows a little bit of everything we have in the Tour and a little bit of everything that France has made in the last 20-30 years," Ridgway told Deutsche Welle. He said the sale will make space and help pay for new wines and it might even finance a little bit of an interior refurbishment.

Money for old wine

The restaurant is expecting to raise about a million euros ($1.5 million) from the sale. Exceptional items include Chateau Latour from 1975 to 1994 and the 1934 Armagnac. But there will also be collectable vintages, which the sommelier expects to go for less than 100 euros a pop.

"The least expensive could well be a Jurancon from the south west of France or a Creux Hermitage from the Rhone valley," Ridgway said, adding that a pre-revolution Cognac was likely to generate the most cash.

The Tour d'Argent is counting on its long history and its status as a Paris landmark to generate international interest in the sale. Five floors up, it offers a spectacular view of Notre Dame Cathedral and the beautiful Paris skyline.

Beckoning back the heyday

Yet for all its history -- it has served kings and survived the ravages of several wars -- the restaurant, like many of its luxurious ilk, is no longer the thriving eatery of old. Where clients once had to book a table three months in advance, it is now possible to reserve a table by calling as little as a week ahead.

Critics' claims that the Tour d'Argent has failed to keep up with food trends has not helped it popularity. Neither has the fact that within a decade it lost two of its three Michelin stars.

The restaurant has been run by the Terrail family for three generations and current owner and manager Andre Terrail sees the auction as an opportunity to regain a sense of pride.

"Every single wine critic around the world agrees that it's one of the most beautiful selections that has ever been put on the market and proposed like this," Terrail told Deutsche Welle. "So we are proving a point. And that is very important in terms of prestige and reputation."

The auction is also a very clever publicity stunt. Media attention is rife and excitement about the sale is by no means restricted to veritable wine collectors. It has put the restaurant back into the public consciousness, which was precisely the intention.

Report: Genevieve Oger, Paris (tkw)
Editor: Sam Edmonds