Record sales total for Hospices de Beaune 2017 auction
See the headline results from this year’s Hospices de Beaune auction held over the weekend.
The Hospices de Beaune 2017 auction raised a record 13.5 million euros (£12m, $16m), according to auction organiser Christie’s, beating the previous record set in 2015.
Top lot in the auction, the traditional ‘La pièce des Présidents’ sold for €420,000, which was the second highest total on record; its 2015 equivalent selling for 480,000 euros.
See the top 10 lots below. Data supplied by Christie’s. Prix realisé means the price paid, with currency translations given.
Top lots at Hospices de Beaune 2017 auction. Credit: Christie’s.
All proceeds from the the presidents’ lot go to charity and this year it consisted of two barrels of Corton Clos du Roi Grand Cru. It was bought jointly by Maison Albert Bichot and an unnamed China-based investor, Christie’s said.
The chosen charities and their representatives at the auction were:
- Agnès b and Julie Depardieu for The Foundation Tara Expéditions;
- Marc-Olivier Fogiel, for The Federation for Brain Research;
- Charles Aznavour for The Foundation for Alzheimer Research.
The results mark a return to form for the annual Hospices de Beaune auction, albeit there was also more wine to sell from a 2017 vintage that proved relatively plentiful versus its immediate predecessors.
This year’s Hospices auction included 787 barrels – including 630 of red wine and 157 of white wine. There were also 15 barrels of eaux de vie.
Last year’s auction had 596 barrels and 2015 saw 575 barrels of the new vintage up for sale.
Jasper Morris MW, a Christie’s consultant, said, ‘We owe this great result largely to the work of [winemaker] Ludivine Griveau and her team for producing such high-quality wines in both colours. It has been a pleasure to taste such an excellence class of wine throughout 787 barrels.’
