[dropcap size=small]A[/dropcap] unique annual event took place on Nov 19 in the heart of Burgundy, Beaune.
The auction was the highlight of a weekend of events which included a pre-auction dinner the night before at the historic Chateau Clos Vougeot attended by 600 people, and entertainment by the celebrated Clos Vougeot’s all-male Choir.
Hospices de Beaune is a hospital which cares for the sick and elderly citizens of Burgundy.
In 1443, when Chancellor Nicolas Rolin founded the Hôtel Dieu (Hospices de Beaune), Beaune was coming out of the Hundred Years War, a period of unrest and plague that decimated the countryside. It was for the poor and the most disadvantaged that this masterpiece inspired by the most outstanding hôtels-Dieu of Flanders and Paris was built.
Behind the austere slate roofs of the facade are the stunning courtyard, beautiful varnished roof tiles and overhead skylights. All around the courtyard, the harmonious organisation of buildings rule the life of this charitable institution: under the hull-shaped arches of the poor room, the sick were welcomed in, and in the kitchen with its huge Gothic chimneys, meals were prepared, while the apothecary, with its mortar and earthenware pots, was the preserve of the sister pharmacist.
The hospital relies entirely on donations and a unique type of donation, which has provided the much-needed funds, is the annual Hospices de Beaune Auction of the wines it produces.
To backtrack a little, over the years since its foundation, generous men and women have been donating their posessions and wealth to the hospices, and one of the most precious donations has been from vineyards of Burgundy, from Gevrey-Chambertin in the north down to Beaune in the south.
These vineyards are carefully tended by the Hospices, and it is the wine from the annual harvests that are the subject of the annual auction.
Eighty-five per cent of the Domaine consists of First Growths and Great Growths – an exceptionally high percentage.
The vineyards are mainly located around Beaune (Auxey-Duresses, Beaune, Meursault, Monthelie, Pommard, Pernand-Vergelesses, Chassagne-Montrachet, Savigny-les- Beaune, Volnay, Saint Romain and now Santenay) due to the geographical position of the hospital, and include prestigious names such as Grands Crus Mazy-Chambertin, Echezeaux, Corton Grand Cru, Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru and Premier Cru Beaune Clos des Avaux.
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The average age of the vines is now around 35 years, and the total acreage of the vineyards owned by the hospices is around 60ha, of which 50 are planted with Pinot Noir, and the rest Chardonnay.
Some of the cuvées are from single vineyards, and others from the assembling of grapes from different plots. This contributes to the uniqueness of the Domaine’s wines offered at the auction.
The work in the vineyard is carried out by 23 vignerons employed by the Hospices, working under the direction of Ludivine Griveau, régisseur and winemaker of the Domaine since January 2015. Each of these highly experienced vignerons is responsible for around 2.5ha of land. Their experience contributes greatly to the production of high quality hospice’s wines, which express the typicality of the individual terroir of each vineyard,
Since 1995, careful farming is practised – no herbicides and all vineyard treatments are not to endanger the natural biological equilibrium. And since 2008, there has been no use of synthetic products and all work done according to the methods of biological viticulture. Harvesting is done by hand, the grapes being transported in small cases to the new vat-house, where the winemaking has been done since 1994.
It is this wine, from the many individual vineyard plots, still in their barrels and still in the process of formation and maturation, which are offered for auction, barrel by barrel.
The auction was held not in the hospital itself, but in the Halles de Beaune in the centre of the town.
What is offered on auction are barrels of young wine, just harvested in the preceding September, and therefore still needing to be matured over the following months till it is finally ready 12-18 months later for bottling.
What makes buying Hospices’ wine especially attractive is that the wines, when bottled, will carry the Hospices de Beaune label and include the owner’s name: good for bragging rights!
The auction itself is overseen (most efficiently) by the famous London auction house of Christie’s and yours truly is grateful to Simon Tam of Christie’s Hong Kong, whose assistance gave our visiting party priority status at both the Château de Vougeot Dinner and the auction – front rows, facilitating the bidding (if any!) from our small enthusiastic group.
Members of our party successfully bid for a few barrels of the Hospices’ wine to mark this most interesting, important and auspicious event, all in the spirit of charity.
The 157th Hospices Auction achieved a total of US$15,964,575 – the highest result ever. It also achieved a historic price of 420,000 euros for the President’s Barrel. Story originally appeared in a wine column by NK Yong, for The Business Times.