Wines and Health
The M. Chapoutier Wines and Health Association
The M.Chapoutier Wine & Health Association was created on 19 April 1994, by Michel CHAPOUTIER, and a group of volunteers stirred into action by the uncertain future of a little girl with leukaemia, whose survival depended on her receiving a bone marrow transplant, and by the difficulties in finding her a donor encountered by the medical professional.
Its aim: to raise funds, subsequently donated to the ”E.F.S” (the French blood transfusion organisation) in Valence to finance the sign up of volunteer bone barrow donors on the national register.
To achieve this, the seed of an idea – that of volunteers picking as many grapes as possible - gradually germinated, with the Maison M. Chapoutier pledging to donate 1 French franc per kilo of harvested grapes.
So the ”Harvests of the Heart” charity event was born and, thanks to the participation of around a hundred volunteers, 22 tons of grapes were picked at the first event that took place in September 1994.
This was then followed by other activities, such as:
- The ”Auction of the Heart” held for 3 years (Major French and international wine houses donated prestigious wines, sold at auction by volunteer auctioneers)
- The ”Jump out of Bed”, play performed by medical students in aid of bone marrow donation, and sponsored by Jean Louis TRINTIGNANT, a well known French actor.
- The ”Wine for Life” operation: the availability of a special Maison M. Chapoutier wine, which not only raises funds but also disseminates comprehensive information on bone marrow donation.
- The auction, for wine collectors, of an exceptional blend of M. Chapoutier Ermitage and M. Rolland Pomerol, sold exclusively in magnums and double magnums.
- Raising bone marrow donation awareness with correspondents of the “l’’Ardèchoise” cycling event in 2009 and running a stand promoting bone marrow donation.
As a result, from 1994 to 2010, the M. Chapoutier Wines & Health Association’s activities have achieved:
- 483 tons of harvested grapes,
- 2,245 registrations on the volunteer bone marrow donor register,
- €400,481 in collected funds that initially financed registrations, then went on to provide the HLA laboratories in Lyon and Grenoble with high-performance, state of the art equipment.
