{"id":9807,"date":"2024-01-10T14:31:52","date_gmt":"2024-01-10T06:31:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/?p=9807"},"modified":"2024-05-23T18:11:12","modified_gmt":"2024-05-23T10:11:12","slug":"gravity-exists-in-burgundy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/p\/9807.html","title":{"rendered":"Gravity Exists in Burgundy"},"content":{"rendered":"

In recent memory, prices for Burgundy have seemed to defy gravity\u2014they always rise. The prices at this year\u2019s recently completed Hospices de Beaune auction, the 163rd<\/sup>, actually fell, demonstrating that gravity does exist there. The average price per barrel was \u20ac30,839 ($33,642), down 14 percent compared to 2022, but consumers may not notice any difference anytime soon because of the complexity of the market. Still, it\u2019s good news because the 2023 vintage was even larger than the generous and superb 2022, so cellars are full, which at least sets the stage for possible price reductions. That said, the priciest barrel, a grand cru, B\u00e2tard-Montrachet Cuv\u00e9e Dames de Flandres, went for \u20ac350,000 ($381,500), up 14 percent compared to last year.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Hospices de Beaune auction is no ordinary wine auction. This auction catalogue lists no special bottles, no extravagant vacations, no winemakers\u2019 dinners. The locals call it Vente des Vins (sale of wines) because that what\u2019s sold: barely finished-fermenting, unfinished wine still in barrel from the just completed harvest. \u00a0Until 2005, bidding was limited to local n\u00e9gociants, such as Albert Bichot, Louis Jadot, or Robert Drouhin, to name just three, who would perform the \u00e9levage <\/em>(literally, raising or finishing) the wine, bottle, and sell it via the usual commercial channels roughly two years after the auction. Now, however, Sotheby\u2019s runs the auction and individuals can bid\u2014in person, via the internet, or via telephone. Winning bidders take delivery of the wine in barrel, called une piece <\/em>in Burgundy, which contains 228 liters or about 300 bottles. An individual whose bid is successful will have arranged, in advance, with a local n\u00e9gociant to raise, bottle, and ship the wine. At least one n\u00e9gociant, Albert Bichot, allows individuals to buy one-quarter or one-half a barrel by putting customers together. (https:\/\/hospices-beaune.com\/en\/buy-wine-auction\/faq-how-to-buy-barrel-hospices-beaune-auction-albert-bichot\/<\/a>).<\/p>\n

In addition to obtaining a top-notch Burgundy, an additional incentive for individuals to bid is to see their name on the label. The label of the bottled wine contains the emblem of the Hospices de Beaune, the appellation and name of the cuv\u00e9e, the n\u00e9gociant who raised the wine, and the name of the individual who purchased it.<\/p>\n

The Ventes de Vins weekend, highlighted by the auction on the third Sunday in November, is, in a word, a blast, both for wine geeks as well as people who just like to party.\u00a0 Wine enthusiasts will arrive a week or two in advance and arrange tastings. Then, on Friday night, the charming town of Beaune (population 20,000) hosts an enormous outdoor party. Lights, street performers, marching bands, and an influx of 40,000 merry makers transform the normally sleepy town. Locals will greet you with, \u201cbon Ventes de Vins,\u201d much as we would say, \u201cgood afternoon.\u201d Pop-up food stands offering foie gras, frogs\u2019 legs, oysters, and oeufs en murette, the uniquely Burgundian dish of eggs and bacon poached in red wine or sauced with \u00c9poisses, surround the Place Carnot and adjacent streets. Wine, of course, flows everywhere. It\u2019s a family affair with parents pushing kids in strollers and dogs hoping for\u2014and usually finding\u2014dropped morsels. At times the streets are so densely packed, it\u2019s difficult to move. \u00a0Saturday features a cork-pulling contest as well as the traditional half-marathon through the vineyards that starts, oddly enough, at two in the afternoon, \u201cto give runners time to have a decent lunch,\u201d as one resident explained to me. This year multiple art exhibits in Beaune and Pommard featuring local artists drew crowds.<\/p>\n

The origin of the wines is as unique as the auction itself. The Hospices de Beaune (hospital of Beaune) owns about 150-acres of vineyards, most of which are classified as grand<\/em> or premier cru<\/em>, that have been donated to it over the centuries, making it one of the largest landowners and one of the most important producers in Burgundy. So, along with a Chief of Medicine and Chief of Surgery, the hospital has a full-time winemaker, who supervises 20-plus winegrowers that tend the vineyards. (As a physician myself, I\u2019d love to attend those staff meetings!)<\/p>\n

At this year\u2019s auction, the 754 barrels sold raised about \u20ac23.3 million ($25.4 million). A special barrel, Pi\u00e8ce des Pr\u00e9sidents, which contained a Grand Cru, Mazis-Chambertin, Cuv\u00e9e Madeleine Collignon, fetched \u20ac350,000 ($381,500), which will be donated to two charities, Fondation pour la Recherche M\u00e9dicale (FRM) and the Initiative de Recherche pour une Long\u00e9vit\u00e9 en Bonne Sant\u00e9 (IRLB)<\/strong>, both of which are dedicated to research into improving life expectancy and maintaining good health. The remaining roughly \u20ac23 million goes to the Hospices de Beaune to finance major new structural projects in 2024, including <\/strong>construction of a new hospital building, upgrading hospital equipment with cutting edge technology, and modernizing the winery.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The barrel itself for the <\/strong>Pi\u00e8ce des Pr\u00e9sidents came from a 200-plus year-old oak tree, the majority of which was used as the new spire in the rebuilding of Notre Dame de Paris that was destroyed in 2019. Enough remained after the spire was in place to be used to make the special barrel.<\/p>\n

Although most of the buyers hailed from Europe\u2014Albert Bichot alone purchased 156 barrels, accounting for fully one-third of the sales\u2014the sale attracted buyers from all over Asia, including Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, and China, according to Matthew Floris, press officer for Sotheby\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Ludivine Griveau, the current winemaker and first female to hold that position, was very pleased with the quality of the 2023s. From Hospices de Beaune vineyards, she produced 51 cuv\u00e9es<\/em> (bottlings) in 2023. She explained that variable weather during the growing season resulted in uneven ripening of the grapes. So, she and her team had to make a severe selection to eliminate diseased, unripe, or over-ripe ones. She estimated that she discarded 10 to 15 percent of the crop that made it to the winery and added that the harvesters could have discarded twice that amount in the vineyard. As a result, fewer barrels were up for sale at the 2023 auction (754 barrels, 475 of red and 179 or white) compared to 802 in 2022, despite a larger harvest.<\/p>\n

To me, though the reds of 2023 were more difficult to taste because of their structure compared to the suave 2022s, they had purity of fruit, enlivening acidity, and balance. It appears Griveau\u2019s severe selection paid off. If other producers did as well\u2014and it\u2019s far too early to tell\u2014the 2023 vintage could be notable for both quantity and quality.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For details concerning the 2024 Hospices de Beaune auction, always held on the third Sunday in November, contact Sotheby\u2019s by emailing tristan.roznowski@sothebys.com<\/a> or celian.raveldestienne@sothebys.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Michael Apstein<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":9810,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[126],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-terroir-academy","pmpro-has-access"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9807"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10633,"href":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9807\/revisions\/10633"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/terroirsense.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}