Institut Pasteur supported by a record-breaking edition of the Hospices de Nuits-Saint-Georges wine auction

The 60th Hospices de Nuits-Saint-Georges wine auction, held on Sunday March 14, 2021 at the Château du Clos-de Vougeot, was a resounding success.

The auction brought in €1,923,000, a remarkable 19.11% more than 2020.

A new record was set when a barrel of Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er cru Les Saint-Georges Cuvée Georges Faiveley sold for €32,000.

The charity barrel raised €49,380 in aid of the Institut Pasteur, represented by the writer Erik Orsenna – a record-breaking sum for the charity sale.

The charity barrel, 228 liters of Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru Les Saint-Georges – sold on a subscription basis for the third year in a row –, went for €49,380, a new all-time record, with proceeds this year going to the Institut Pasteur. The money raised by the sale of the charity barrel will help fund the development of tools to evaluate the risk of an (influenza) pandemic, with the aim of identifying viruses that are likely to emerge and preparing suitable vaccine candidates.

Erik Orsenna, Ambassador for the Institut Pasteur and the Institut Pasteur International Network, reacted to the announcement of this record-breaking sum:

"I am particularly delighted and honored to be the patron of the 60th Nuits-Saint-Georges charity wine auction, in aid of a research project on influenza that is being developed at the Institut Pasteur. The generosity of the bidders in raising this incredible sum of €49,380 is particularly fitting, since the work of Louis Pasteur, a visionary chemist and "wine doctor," was closely linked to wine production. On behalf of the Institut Pasteur team, I would like to thank you for your support for our work. It is by coming together that we will advance research!"

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