The 162nd wine auction of the Hospices de Beaune in Burgundy, organised, for the second time, by Sotheby's has achieved record price of €29,788,500 (excluding the buyer‘s premium) for 820 barrels of young wine and brandy. This, as the Bureau Interprofessionnel des Vins de Bourgogne (BIVB) announced, was the highest value ever at a charity wine auction. This figure was more than twice the 2018 record figure of €14,187,150 and the €12.6m paid for 362 barrels in the small 2021 vintage.
´Pièce des Présidents’
The most famous barrel, ´Pièce des Présidents`, sold for €810,000 - a record since the auction began in 1945. Every year there is a different wine. This time it was a Corton Grand Cru from the blend of "three of the most beautiful terroirs of the Domaine des Hospices de Beaune" - Corton Renardes, Corton Bressandes and Corton Chaume.
The buyers were the negociants, Louis Latour and Joseph Drouhin, who jointly bid €700,000. This was boosted by €110,000 by members of the Fédération des Négociants Eleveurs de Grande Bourgogne, as Louis Latour announced. The proceeds will be donated to two organizations: the Princesse Margot Association, which supports children with cancer, and the World Vision Organization, which helps needy children.
Homage to Louis-Fabrice Latour
The ´Pièce des Présidents` is also a hommage to Louis-Fabrice Latour, president of Maison Louis Latour, who passed away in September and was instrumental in supporting and advancing the auction, it said.
"This is the most beautiful tribute to my late husband Louis-Fabrice. The record sum, which was also achieved thanks to the support of the other trading houses, is highly symbolic for me for a good cause," said Patricia Latour, Louis-Fabrice's widow.
Seven hundred people physically attended the seven-hour auction, but bids were also placed by telephone and online from 30 countries worldwide. (ITP)
