The auction, despite sombre reflections dedicated to those who lost their lives in Paris, started with full-blast bidding – over-exuberance? – perhaps. Security was certainly in evidence; without the right pass, or the right name to come to the door to your aid, you were not going to get your foot across entrance – and that’s just the way it has to be. There is a certain type of person that will always cause my blood to boil, and whilst waiting to get through the press door, here was one of them; somebody without any credentials was really pissed that he was being ‘held-up’ at the door – he didn’t seem to give a shit that 130 people died 36 hours before. I don’t care how expensive his shoes were – he was acting like a tosser…

The opening lots were sold for about 40% higher than the (already high) catalogue estimates. I saw barrels of Clos de la Roche going for €110,000 – that’s €375 per bottle – and that’s just to cover the hammer price; add at least 25% to reach the final price per bottle. Still, it’s charity, and it’s a lot cheaper than a Leroy, and (just) maybe the 2015s will indeed be monuments, but for anyone who lives by selling these wines, €600+ will be tough call. Likewise, barrels of Beaune were costing an unheard-of €10,000 – the Savignys not far south of that either.

Then there was the ‘President’s Lot’ – a barrel of Corton-Renardes that sold with a hammer price of €480,000 – I suppose fittingly bought by a (mystery) French buyer, as a portion of the proceeds will go to 3 charities, including the families of the Paris attack. Last year the President’s barrel went for €220,000!

At 8:00pm, when the last lots of Fine de Bourgogne were knocked down for a tenth of the price of the wines, the sale was over. In total the turnover was €11.35 million and the average price per barrel up by 37%. It seems the market is no-longer connected to prices in the auction – or at least we must very-much hope so. By 9:00pm, the chairs had already been cleared from the auditorium and most of the stalls around Place Carnot had been dismantled. Here is the press release from Christies.

By tomorrow evening, Beaune will largely be closed for the rest of the year…
 

Time for the big screen…

The big screen…

8:00pm – time to go…

Time is running out if you do (of-course!)

I have this in my inbox today, and it is, I suppose, an easy (read cheap!) entry into the world of Hospices de Beaune wine – though you won’t get to see your name on the label 😉 Albert Bichot have, for the best part of 15 years (to my personal knowledge) been making great wine, arguably as good as any négoce in Beaune.

If you really must have your own name on the label, but hanker for an Australian to look after the elevage for you, drop me a line, as I may have a useful name for you 😉 just click on my name at the bottom of any page, send me a note, and I’ll put you in contact.

It goes without saying, I’ve no financial involvement of any kind with either the linked info, or any further contacts that I might suggest for you!!!

Half a billion dollars of fake wine are ‘out there somewhere.’ And that’s only Rudy Kurniawan’s contribution to the pot!

Really an important topic for us all…

The list for all those with an interest:
Tastevines-2015

I thought this might be of interest to anyone in Beaune/Burgundy/France – it’s (to my knowledge) Laurent Ponsot’s’ first official ‘outlet.’

Attached to the Hotel de Beaune and the Bistro de l’Hôtel is a wine-shop – largely unremarkable in its first 18 months or-so – save for its artwork! They have now upped their game. A range of 1er and GC wines are now available from Laurent Ponsot – and he sets the prices, not the shop. They are not cheap, but in the context of older wines, ex-cellars, there’s no obvious gouging here, and you can even buy his Clos St.Denis TVV on its own – there are cases of different vintages! I saw 1ers from 1997 and 1998 that were about €70. Grand Crus from a range of vintages were €250-350(+) plus some in magnum format too.

This wine shop is also now the only place in Beaune where you can buy the wines from Olivier Bernstein – another recent ‘acquisition’ – they are très expensive, but having recently visited Olivier (May Report), I can almost see the value in Bernstein’s Chambolle 1er 2012 for €120…

The wines of Charles van Canneyt are available too – yet another new offering, and one that’s definitely on my list of producers to visit.

So an impressive selection – some are ridiculously priced like those below (one tenth would still be too much outside of a restaurant), but there are plenty of 1990/1993 wines from the likes of de Montille and d’Angerville that seem relative bargains, for touristy Beaune, at ~€300…

Oups! How much?

Now isn’t this interesting.

  Pic stolen from a Facebook post…

I have to say that I never really thought of Freddy Mugnier and Château Latour as bed-fellows, though I do understand the ‘stance’ and knowing FM, I’m sure it has nothing to do with the money. But my question is, ‘what does several years mean?’ Even through a ‘cell phone’ baby Musigny is indisputably more fabulous than 99.9% of all other similar age burgundies. Clearly it is a very different experience to drinking a wine at 20-25(+) years-old, but relevant and something that it would be a shame to miss – all in my opinion of-course.

I actually believe that most of the ‘wasted’ bottles are those drunk between 3 and 10 years-old, depending on the vintage, when they are adolescent, angular or tight. So I really hope that Frederic doesn’t mean seven when he writes several.

An additional ‘issue’ suggests itself; if the source of ‘new’ Musigny dries up for ‘several years’ won’t people be pushed to drink even more adolescent wine?

Image: Julien Brocard, 29th January 2015.

The domaine of Jean-Marc Brocard was, last weekend, targeted by thieves, and not for the first time in recent days. In a ram-raid smash and grab (the domaine and its shop is remote from its home village of Préhy, about 7-8 minutes drive from Chablis town) about 600 bottles were stolen, and of-course only the best cuvées were stolen from their retail shop. The damage caused by the ram-raid is nearly comparable to the cost of the wine – so feel free to raise an eyebrow if you see some cheap JM Brocard in the next days; apparently the bottles are all numbered…

The weekend’s second smash and grab was much more corporate in nature: Late on Friday, Maison Albert Bichot put out a press-release before switching off the lights for the weekend. The have acquired the 33 hectare domaine of Pascal Bouchard in Chablis, or maybe it’s the maison part(?) – the press release is a little opaque in that matter. On Thursday I’ll get the infos from the horse’s mouth – but clearly that makes an interesting second brand from Bichot in Chablis and a nice big new cuverie on the otskirts of the town too…

More info when I have it!