Cover Charles Lachaux of Domaine Arnoux Lachaux, who has donated a bottle of Vosne Romanee 1er Cru Reightnots 2009 (Photo courtesy of L'Imperatrice)

Generous donations from winemakers and wine collectors—including Henry Tang—are being auctioned off to raise money to benefit hospitality workers affected by the pandemic

Julia and Klaus-Peter Keller of Germany’s Weingut Keller, one of the country’s finest wine estates, are spearheading a new initiative that seeks to raise money for hospitality workers affected by the ongoing coronavirus situation around the world. Using a system of donations and wine auctions, the estate have sought out partners around the globe to participate—in Hong Kong, L’Imperatrice is leading the auction, partnering with Weingut Keller to organise a 10-day online auction of some spectacular bottles.

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Above Weingut Keller will donate one magnym of G-Max Riesling Trocken, considered one of the world's greatest dry rieslings (Photo: L'Imperatrice)

The auction began on 19 April and will continue until 29 April, with new lots added regularly as generous donors offer their labels to raise money. In an unprecedented move, Weingut Keller is making available their ultra rare G-Max Riesling Trocken in Magnum Vintage 2018—considered the “German Montrachet” by Jancis Robinson—which is normally never released commercially and often kept for the Domaine library or for special events.

Others who have donated bottles include French and Italian vintners (Domaine Mugneret-Gibourg, Domaine Cécile Tremblay, Domain Anne Gros, Domaine Arnoux Lachaux, Domaine Felettig and more) as well as Henry Tang, one of Hong Kong’s best known oenophiles. Tang has offered a bottle of Domaine de la Romanee Conti, La Tache, 1990 that has a bid of HK$40,000 at the time of writing.

See also: United We Dine Is A New Campaign Supporting Hong Kong's Restaurants

The restaurants that will be supported by the funds raised by the auction include Belon, Arcane, Cornerstone, Haku, Louise, Ecriture, VEA, Francis, Interval, Pondi, Ta Vie, Sushi Tokami, and Club Qing. “As much as we would like to help every restaurant, we have decided to focus on small or medium size operations which are our partners, friends and where we have a special relationship with the people there and whom are affected the most by the economic situation,” reads an explanation on the L’Imperatice website.

Bids will be taken before 28 April via email. To find out more about the auction, please visit the L’Imperatrice website

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