The 161st Hospices de Beaune Wine Auction took place on Sunday evening, November 21st 2021. This was the first of a series (a 10-year contract?) to be led by Sotheby’s.

When you consider the relatively small number of barrels available due to the frosts of 2021, the proceeds of the sale were quite exceptional – €11,678,000 for those 351.5 barrels – about 60% of the volume that was available in the previous sale – and not of the same quality either!

The bare facts are that prices increased by 100% for the whites and 60% for the reds when compared to the previous year. The special lot – the “Pièce des Présidents” – a barrel of Corton-Renardes Grand Cru reached an impressive new record price of €800,000 – thats nearly €2,700 per bottle without the costs of elevage. Looked at another way, that’s ‘only’ what you now pay for the grand crus from Domaine Leroy!

There is, indeed, a paucity of wine in the most recent vintages, though not to the level that could justify the prices paid at the weekend, though we can keep telling ourselves – ‘It’s just for charity!‘