WINES With a total receipt of 28.978 million euros without fees, the 2022 edition more than doubled the previous record of 13.97 million euros established in 2018
The 162nd Hospices de Beaune wine sale, November 20, 2022. — AFP
“The results are historic and spectacular.” The director of the Hospices Civils de Beaune, in Côte-d’Or, François Poher, couldn’t contain his enthusiasm on Sunday after prices soared at the 162nd wine sale of theé ;hospital establishment.
The 2022 edition of the oldest charity auctions in the world has indeed exploded all the counters. With a total receipt of 28.978 million euros without costs, these auctions have more than doubled. the previous record set in 2018 (13.97 million euros).
Average price per barrel at its highest
« “Exceptional”, “”incredible”, “”unimaginable””” The superlatives were thus fused; among the 800 buyers gathered under the Halles de Beaune, capital of Burgundy wines. The average price per cask of wine also reached a new high, at €35,974 (+8%).
The abundance of the 2022 harvest had certainly unleashed the forecasts of new records but without anticipating such a level. This year, in fact, the number of lots was exceptional: 802 pieces were sold. take, not far off the high of 843 lots in 2018. The heavy rains in June enabled the vine to resist well to the summer drought to the point of giving an “exceptional” vintage.
“We went from extreme to extreme; the other: from the 2021 vintage, the smallest for 40 years, to a very abundant vintage,” sums up Amayès Aouli, European director at Sotheby’s Wine, organizer of the sale. The 2021 harvest had indeed been half amputated by a devastating spring frost. Only 356 drums had been offered at the sale that year, unheard of since 1977. After the rarity of 2021, the abundance of 2022 has sharpened “The appetite of buyers,” says Amayès Aouli. “After the Covid years and travel restrictions, many customers came from afar,” especially from China.
Money for Princess Margot and Vision du World
Already at the end of the afternoon, the “room of the presidents” to a charity other than the Hospices, had already reached a new record at 810,000 euros, compared to 800,000 euros last year. “Congratulations to; all” from the top of the platform Frédéric Drouhin, president of the great Burgundy wine house that bears his name, after winning the within a collective of mad bidding traders. The recipe for this “piece”, a 228-litre (288-bottle) keg, was reserved for associations helping to help people with life. childhood Princess Margot and Vision du Monde. “Bravo,” the actor Benoît Magimel, who came to raise the bids with the host Flavie Flament.
The proceeds from the other lots are intended for equipment and the renovation of the four hospitals and six nursing homes, i.e. a thousand beds currently housed in the Hospices Civils. The latter do not receive any aid from the state for these expenses, which are therefore entirely financed by the vines given to the Hospices since their foundation in 1443.