Gerard Deparieu admits to drinking 14 bottles of wine a day

18 Sentyabr 2014 14:22 (UTC+04:00)

Gerard Depardieu, the titan of French cinema and renowned bon vivant, claims he sometimes drinks up to 14 bottles of wine a day.

Even a quintuple heart bypass operation 14 years ago does not seem to have tempered the actor's drinking, nor a serious motorcycle crash while over the legal limit.

The 65-year-old Frenchman’s fondness for wine is such that he runs his own award-winning vineyard in the Medoc.

He told French magazine So Film: 'I can’t drink like a normal person. I can absorb 12, 13, 14 bottles per day.

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Mon Dieu! Gerard Depardieu recently told a French film magazine: 'I can¿t drink like a normal person. I can absorb 12, 13, 14 bottles per day'

Mon Dieu! Gerard Depardieu recently told a French film magazine: 'I can’t drink like a normal person. I can absorb 12, 13, 14 bottles per day'

'In the morning, it starts at home with champagne or red wine before 10am, then again champagne.' Gerard said he breaks up the wine intake with a little aniseed liqueur pastis.

He added: 'Then food, accompanied by two bottles of wine.

'In the afternoon, champagne, beer and more pastis at around 5pm, to finish off the bottle. Later on, vodka and/or whisky. But I’m never totally drunk. All you need is a 10-minute nap and voila, a slurp of rose wine and I feel as fresh as a daisy. Anyway, I’m not going to die. Not now. I still have energy."

Wine lover: Gerard Depardieu during a visit to the 'Vinexpo' international wine fair in Bordeaux, south-western France in 2005. He runs his own award-winning vineyard in the Medoc

Wine lover: Gerard Depardieu during a visit to the 'Vinexpo' international wine fair in Bordeaux, south-western France in 2005. He runs his own award-winning vineyard in the Medoc

However, his behaviour was condemned by French mental health expert Professor Michel Lejoyeux, who blasted French attitudes to the heavy consumption of alcohol, and the media's admiration of his alcohol intake.

He said: 'We smile about heavy users, calling them "bon vivants", while non-consumption is not allowed. In society, it is the one who does not drink who will feel guilty.

'A consumption of 14 bottles a day is beyond all data, all thresholds and health references of the World Health Organization.

'This is proof of the positive vision we have of alcohol poisoning.'