wine and health

Last month’s Wine Bloggers Conference in Walla Walla coincided with a charitable event called the Walla Walla Wine Walk Weekend, and it got me thinking again about the role that wineries play in charity and gratitude. I enjoyed all of the sessions at the WBC (now renamed the Wine Media Conference), but decided to a bit of a different tack and check out the charity auction event instead of the Friday evening WBC winery dinners. (Plus they had dancing!) My wife and I helped kick off the weekend’s festivities, which ended up raising over $40,000 for the Walla Walla Alliance for Homelessness. On Saturday wine blogger conference participants were joined by over 300 people at tasting rooms around downtown, sampling wines from 17 participating wineries all donating to the cause. But Walla Walla wineries aren’t unique in their generosity; with their participation and others across Washington State, this year’s Auction of Washington Wines in August raised more than $4 million to benefit Sea...

Although wine has been associated with health since the dawn of civilization, the relationship was consummated in 1859 with the founding of the Hospices de Beaune annual charity wine auction. Built in 1443 as an almshouse and hospital for the poor, the Hospice was and is to this day supported by vineyard holdings. The auction serves to create a market for the wines, and has become a huge annual event in Burgundy. Following this lead, charity wine auctions are now held throughout the world, benefiting health care and a range of worthy causes. Some wineries now devote their profits directly to health care charities, and I would like to highlight a few of them here. Napa Valley winery Ehlers Estate is actually owned by a charitable trust, Fondation Leducq . The vineyard dates to the 1880’s, and produces 100% organic wines. The foundation, based in France, sponsors internationally collaborative research in cardiovascular and neurovascular disease.  Their grants have gone to more th...