'Madeleine' is a district of Paris where the retail emporia drip wealth and ooze an unmistakable opulence. The area is best known for its posh hotels, the grand Napoleonic 'La Madeleine Church', and some of France's most famous gourmet stores, including Hediard (see article page 55) and Fauchon.

Walk into any wine store in this area, and you'll be spoilt for choice for a classic Bordeaux, Burgundy or Rhone - a luxury taken for granted if you're a local, but clearly a treat for antipodean lovers of fine wine.

Walking from the church toward the Opera district along the Boulevard de la Madeleine, you'll find a relatively new 'must see' on the map of world's most important wine destinations - Lavinia.

Designed by noted Spanish architect Antonio de la Pena and opened in September 2002, Lavinia is Europe's biggest wine store with 16,100 square feet of wines and spirits over three levels.

The French are of often accused of being arrogant or chauvinistic in their attitude toward wines of the New World, but no one could accuse the buyers for this store of being parochial in their selection. Sure, there are 3000 French wines on offer, but you'll also find 2000 international wines from 45 countries, as well as 1000 types of whiskeys and other spirits. It's an international range that warrants the term 'unfrench'.

The ground floor of Lavinia is devoted to champagnes and foreign wines, and the basement is reserved for French wines with a unique focus on small domains and wines with a point of difference, such as organic.

Lavinia has sworn off the easy option of stocking bottom of the line wines from the big merchant houses of Burgundy sold in most major outlets.

The basement also houses two special cellars that are more dimly lit and cooler than the rest of the store. These cellars feature extraordinarily pricey bottles such as the 1991 Romanee-Conti that would set you back more than US$37,500.

The upstairs restaurant seats about 80 for lunch and its popularity often results in customers being turned away. On offer are more than 40 selections of wine by the glass, and you can buy any bottle to drink on premises without paying a restaurant mark-up. The first upper level also features a tasting bar and a shop selling wine books, glasses, and corkscrews. Lavinia sponsor tastings and while many are open only to Lavinia club members, membership is free.

French businessmen Thierry Servant and Pascal Chevrot opened the first Lavinia in Madrid in 1999, a second in Barcelona in 2001, and finally the boulevard de la Madeleine store the following year.

Servant and Chevrot conceived the Lavinia project in the mid 1990s and chose the name Lavinia because it sounds like the Spanish 'la vina' meaning the vineyard.

Servant was quoted at the time: "We were used to seeing great wines in shop with high temperatures, near light sources, with no humidity. I was thinking of doing something in retail, and we felt there was something lacking in terms of the way good wines were distributed."

Speaking with slightly timid English, Virginie Morvan says her title at Lavinia is 'Responsible des Vins Etrangers' which translated into English means 'person in charge of foreign wines'.

Originally from Britanny, Morvan has managed the importing of foreign wine and French champagne at the store since it opened. She is one of the three head buyers in the store, the other two handling French wine and spirits.

"The customers are looking for inexpensive wines that are good quality. New World wine here (in France) can be expensive due to transport and tax, so it can be hard to find good New World wine that is great value.

"It's not a problem to find the best-known New World wines, but we like to have the new winemakers coming in. We need to help the boutique winemakers."

Morvan believes the most sought-after foreign wines are from Spain, Italy, and Australia, closely followed by Chile and Argentina due to their competitive pricing. She said Lavinia stocks about 40 Australian wines, including Yalumba, Penfolds, Jim Barry Wines, Wynns, Clarendon Hill and D'Arenberg.

"There are two types of people who come into the store. We have a tourist such as an English or Japanese person coming in here looking for good French wine, and then we have the French person looking for international wine.

"The French customers are travelling more now, so they are tasting a lot wine in many countries, and they like to come back and find those wines here.

"A lot of young people are looking for Australian wines here. When you're thinking Australia, you are thinking surf and beaches. People buying Australian wine here are looking for the Australian dream. People want to travel but it's expensive, so instead they are buying Australian wine."