The Associated Press

For decades, the corridors beneath Paris City Hall in France harboured a wine lover's fantasyland of carefully collected grands and premiers crus – until Friday, when nearly 5,000 bottles headed for the auction block.

The collection, which caught the attention of amateur buyers around the world, was expected to bring in up to $942,000 US, according to one of the organizers, wine expert Claude Maratier.

The sale, at an auction house in the Marais district of Paris near City Hall, was expected to begin Friday afternoon and run into Saturday.

Maratier acknowledged that the collection itself is not particularly exceptional, but said its source - the 19th-century, castle-like Hotel de Ville - added collectors' item value to the bottles.

Among the top-end bottles is a 1990 Chateau Petrus Pomerol, priced at $1,500 US.

Maratier praised the excellent conditions under which the wine was stored, with carefully controlled temperatures and labels intact.

Paris's Socialist mayor, Bertrand Delanoe, has spearheaded the effort, seeking a less elitist use of city funds, according to local media reports. Delanoe's office would not comment Friday on the auction.

Much of the collection was assembled during conservative Jacques Chirac's term as mayor, from 1977 to 1995.