The cellars of Joseph Drouhin are in the medieval part of Beaune, one of the cellars was a medieval kitchen for the Kings of France and set into the wall is a steel door through which Frédéric’s Drouhins grandfather escaped the Gestapo in WWII. The nuns of the Hospices de Beaune gave him shelter and his family remained unaware that he had survived until 12 months after his disappearance. In appreciation for the kindness of the nuns he gave 2.69 hectares of Beaune 1er Cru vineyard to the Hospices plus a day’s work per week to assist with their affairs for the rest of his life. Hence cuvée Maurice Drouhin at the Hospices de Beaune auction. Relationships run long and deep in Burgundy!
