“This is not a fleeting event, it is permanent, it is eternal and it will grow” Paul Ricard 1958
 
Paul Ricard chose this island to open a museum on 12 July 1958, a museum dedicated to housing a “complete and permanent encyclopedia” of wine and spirits, The Universal Exhibition of Wines and Spirits.

In the course of the first fifty years since it came into being, the EUVS has  assembled a collection of 8,000 bottles of wines and spirits from all over the world, as well as glassware, crystal, labels, restaurant menus and wine lists dating back as far as the 1860s. This collection offers rare insight into how brands and drinks have developed over the years. The EUVS has been host over recent decades to a large number of lectures on wines and spirits. 

Since 2007, under the direction of two historians specialised in spirits and cocktails, Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown, a team of European experts and volunteers has been set up to deal with the conservation remit of the museum, including cleaning, repairs, historical research and documentation.
 
The directors of the exhibition are working to create a free internet library on www.euvs.org, with a database of all rare bottles as well as information on lists of wines and beverages, a compendium of different distillations and records of different cocktails.

The Universal Exhibition of Wines and Spirits also offers archive assistance on its premises for journalists specialising in wines and spirits from all round the world.

The EUVS is much more than just a collection, it is a unique concept of its kind and provides an overview of the wines and spirits industry and of its cultural influence, past and present.

For all requests for further general information, groups, guided visits, hire for private use and events.

EUVS PROGRAM summer 2009

The EUVS big cocktail

Cocktail nights and workshops