I never taste the wines of the Hospices – I don’t consider them commercial and they are far too young for somebody (i.e. me) who habitually tastes wine just before bottling, to gain any more than a general idea of the vintage. I can wait…
But the buyers at the auction – it seems that they really couldn’t wait!
Let us remind ourself that 2018 has announced itself as exceptional – now that doesn’t mean that the wines will necessarily be great, though there are plenty of chances for that in red, though less-so in white. It seems that this was sufficient information for most of the buyers, because at just before 10pm the auction was, after nearly 7.5 hours finally over, the result – A New Record!
– Well, was there ever going to be any doubt?
The final result of this, the 158th Hospices de Beaune Wine Auction, was the delivery of a total value of €13,968,750 – last year, was also a record, bringing in €11,164,964. Later in the week I’ll do a little more thorough analysis. The prices started about the same as last year before the fuse was lit – here are a few highlights:
- The first barrel of Bâtard-Montrachet, Cuvée Dames de Flandres went for €135,000 that’s 17k more than last year, the rest of the barrels for €130k.
- So perhaps you’d prefer some cheaper white wine then? The Chablis 1er Côte de Léchet, Cuvée Jean Marc Brocard sold on average last year for ‘only’ €8,500, but this year it averaged out at a price of €14,500
- Four barrels of Clos de la Roche, Cuvée Cyrot-Chaudron were each hammered at €110,000 – they went for between €75-80k last year!
Of-course a new record value doesn’t mean so much if you don’t take account of the volume of barrels sold – and there were a lot this year – as noted, I’ll come back with more information after I’ve slept!
A little of the colour of the weekend:
