French hospital auctions off good wines for charity

A UNIQUE annual event took place on Nov 19 in the heart of Burgundy, Beaune.

It was the Hospices de Beaune Auction, which attracts an eager global audience and interest. Visitors included both professionals and amateurs, wine merchants and wine collectors.

The auction was the highlight of a weekend of events which included a pre-auction dinner the night before at the historic Chateau Clos Vougeot attended by 600 people, and entertainment by the celebrated Clos Vougeot's all-male Choir.

Hospices de Beaune is a hospital which cares for the sick and elderly citizens of Burgundy.

In 1443, when Chancellor Nicolas Rolin founded the Hôtel Dieu (Hospices de Beaune), Beaune was coming out of the Hundred Years War, a period of unrest and plague that decimated the countryside. It was for the poor and t…