A Paris university plagued by a long-running asbestos problem on its Jussieu campus has received some consolation - the first vintage of a wine it inherited from a former researcher has arrived.
Paris VI biologist Dimitri Bogoraze died in 1994 but it has taken two years to untangle the legal implications of his bequest.
The Russian emigre put strict conditions in his will to ensure the university continued to employ the vineyard's staff and commercialise the 50,000 bottles of sweet Banyuls it produces a year.
University governors referred the case to the council before accepting the bequest last June. It has done so in an exceptionally good year. The 1996 Bogoraze-Quinta has turned out to be plentiful and of high quality. The university now has to sell the wine.