Times must be getting really tough in France. The city of Dijon has just sold off half of its prized municipal wine cellar to fund local social spending – including a bottle of 1999 burgundy knocked down at auction for €4,800 to a Chinese buyer.
In total, the capital of the Burgundy region raised €151,620 from the “historic sale” of 3,500 bottles that were part of a collection built up since the 1960s, the city announced in a statement yesterday.
François Rebsamen, the socialist mayor who ordered Sunday’s auction, explained: “We have overall a good budget this year, but the social action spending of the city just keeps going up. There are more and more of our co-citizens who are appealing for social aid.”