St Austell Brewery’s wine expert Xenia Irwin was has made the astonishing discovery of a ‘lost’ treasure trove of 370 wines dating back to 1875 which have been lying untouched in a forgotten side room in the Brewery’s cellars.

Xenia - Wine Buyer for the Brewery’s Walter Hicks business and one of only 260 people world wide to hold the elite Master of Wine qualification - said she was “completely bowled over” when she forced open the jammed but unlocked door to find rack upon rack of dusty bottles.

The collection includes examples of some of Europe's finest wines and vintages from the late 19th century through to the 1960s – including an extremely rare vintage from 1916, at the height of the First Wold War. Xenia believes the bottles were laid down by previous Brewery directors over the decades. The oldest is an 1875 cognac which may well have belonged to Walter Hicks, who founded St Austell Brewery in 1851.

Four of the wines from what is being called the ‘directors store’ will be uncorked on Thursday October 11 in front of some the South West’s leading chefs and wine connoisseurs at St Austell Brewery’s inaugural  Walter Hicks Fine Wine Fair, in Exeter.

Xenia said: “I’ve been involved in the wine business now for more than 19 years and could never have dreamed of making such an exceptional discovery. The door to the ante-room in the cellar was very stiff but unlocked so anyone could have gone in there but it clearly hadn’t been entered in decades. I couldn’t believe what I saw and then I started brushing off the cobwebs and looking at the labels and that’s when I got really excited.”

As a Master of Wine, Xenia is particularly fascinated by the following:

• 1916 Chateau Rieussec. Bottled in World War 1, very few war-time vintages would have left France. It's the first Xenia has seen.
• 1950 Mouton Rothschild – One of only five Premier Cru Classé wines from Bordeaux. One of the world’s greatest wines, albeit from a difficult vintage.
• 1953 Chateau Lafite Premier Cru Classé - one of France's top wines and a classic vintage.
• 1961 Rauzan Segla. 1961 is renowned as one of the best vintages of the 20th century.

While she expects to be nervous when opening the wines in front of other experts at the fine wine fair, Xenia said she was confident that some of the wines had survived and would be drinkable. Even those less palatable will be fascinating for experts to sample and discover how they have developed.

She added: “The signs are good as the levels are relatively high in the bottles.

“It is very difficult to determine the financial value but their historical value is inestimable.”

St Austell Brewery managing director James Staughton – the great-great grandson of Walter Hicks – said: “We’re all very excited and curious to see and taste these historic wines. It’s a reminder of just how long the Brewery has been established and the heritage of our wine business as well as our ales which all goes back to my great-great grandfather Walter Hicks who started as a wine merchant before becoming a brewer.

“We thought that with the Walter Hicks Fine Wine Fair coming up it would be the perfect opportunity to join with other wine lovers, cross our fingers, uncork a few bottles and see what we find. The majority of the wines will be kept in the Brewery’s cellars or put on display in the St Austell Brewery Visitor Centre.”

The Walter Hicks Fine wine fair takes place on Thursday October 11 at the Abode Hotel, Exeter, and is where the South West’s premier wine customers have the opportunity to sample the range of Walter Hick’s fine wines as well as meet experts and top wine growers. It is not open to members of the public.