The 160th Hospices de Beaune wine sale – the oldest in the world in the wine world – which was to take place today has been postponed.
History tells that there were other times (we are thinking of 1961 for meteorological reasons and 1968 cancelled for qualitative reasons) when the sale was postponed, but this one in the midst of a health crisis will be remembered. Together we must stand in solidarity with the general measures necessary to deal with the Covid-19 epidemic.
The postponement of this event in order to preserve its serenity, to gain the support of all the actors and to guarantee its good security is a fair choice even if it hurts us because this sale goes well beyond a auction: it is first and foremost a charity sale.
This event is major for our region because it contributes to the financing of the material investments of the Hospices de Beaune and also contributes to the reputation of Burgundy wines in our territory and beyond.
As the Hospices rightly repeated: “Our history is marked by much more difficult challenges and we have always overcome them”. The profits from the sale of the 2020 charity barrel were to be used to finance exceptional non-refundable grants related to Covid-19 for hospital patients who have been severely impacted by the health crisis, as well as for the children of deceased agents.
Our hearts go out to them and our family hopes to see the organization of this sale very soon, as soon as possible.
