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charity pièce. The fact that the other Burgundy négociant houses joined forces to contribute the missing €110,000 to make this pièce an absolute record is highly symbolic to me. In this way, they have shown their support for a cause that meant a great deal to Frédéric and to me personally: children in need in France and around the world, and more particularly children with cancer. But it is also a gesture towards Louis-Fabrice, who contributed so much to Burgundy.” Frédéric Drouhin, president of
the third Sunday in November. Some 700 people packed the saleroom in the Halle de Beaune, with others bidding remotely from some 30 countries. This was the second sale to be organized by Sotheby’s, which has taken over from Christie’s, the auction partner since 2005. In advance of the sale, Sotheby’s held “20 tastings and dinners […] in cities all over the world, from Taipei and Mexico, to Stockholm and Singapore,” as the company put it. At the 162nd Hospices de Beaune
sale on November 20, 2022, the number of lots offered was dramatically up on the 362 sold the previous year, at 820 (including 17 barrels of spirits), keeping a team of four auctioneers fully occupied for some seven hours. The Domaine was able to produce a total of 51 cuvées, 33 red and 18 white, including one new white wine—Beaune Premier Cru Clos des Mouches Cuvée Hugues & Louis Bétault (of which five barrels sold for a combined total of €235,440)—and one new red—Corton Grand Cru Cuvée Les Renardes (of which 13 barrels sold for a combined total of €700,756). The 602 barrels of red wine and 182 barrels of white wine raised €28,978,500, while the Presidents’ Barrel raised a further €810,000, for a total of €29,788,500 (excluding buyers’ premiums). This smashed the previous record total set in 2018, when an even higher number of barrels (843, including spirits) raised less than half as much (€13,969,750). The average barrel price was €36,133, even higher than the previous record set
Above: The Pièce des Présidents, a unique cuvée of Corton Grand Cru, dedicated to Louis-Fabrice Latour.
20 | THE WORLD OF FINE WINE | ISSUE 79 | 2023
for the very small 2021 vintage (€34,980), when fewer than half the number of barrels was for sale. The average increase in price for the reds was 0.08 percent (it had been up 56 percent in 2021), while for the whites it was 14.18 percent (115 percent in 2021). The price for the Presidents’ Barrel, donated by the Hospices every year since 1978 to other charitable causes, was also the highest ever, at €810,000. The Presidents’ Barrel was a unique blend from the Domaine’s Corton Grand Cru sites: Corton Renardes, Corton Bressandes, and Corton Chaume. It was dedicated to Louis-Fabrice Latour, who died prematurely at the age of 58 in September 2022 (see WFW 78, pp.34–35) and is being aged in a barrique made specially by the cooperage at Maison Louis Latour (pictured above). Amid very high emotion and unprecedented scenes in the saleroom, the barrel was secured by Maison Louis Latour and Maison Joseph Drouhin, whose owning families have long been friends and who together contributed €700,000, to which, in a great show of solidarity and sympathy, the Fédération des Négociants Eleveurs de Grande Bourgogne added €110,000 to take it €10,000 over the record set in 2021. Louis-Fabrice Latour’s wife Patricia and their daughter Eléonore both spoke very movingly from the stage. Of the record-breaking sale, Patricia said, “It’s the best possible tribute to Louis- Fabrice, my husband. I am pleased that Maison Louis Latour has participated alongside our friends Maison Joseph Drouhin by jointly purchasing the
Joseph Drouhin, commented, “There is nothing more joyful than a child’s laughter or smile, and nothing more heartbreaking than to see a child ill, especially with cancer, this disease that is so unfair. Both our families have experienced this directly, with the passing of my daughter Romane and my friend Louis-Fabrice Latour. It was so fitting to make this purchase with Maison Louis Latour in order to support two associations that mean so much to us […]. We are very touched that our colleagues from the FNEB have joined us.” The two associations benefiting from the sale of the Presidents’ Barrel are the Princesse Margot association, which supports children with cancer, represented at the sale by French presenter and writer Flavie Flament, and the World Vision association, whose mission is to help the most vulnerable children worldwide, supported by French actor Benoît Magimel. Albéric Bichot, president of Albert Bichot, was again the largest buyer at the sale, as he has been for more than 25 years, purchasing 111 barrels for a total of €4,984,000, 17.3 percent of the sale by value. He said, “We are delighted with this exceptional sale, which will finance the major reconstruction projects of the Beaune Hospital.” Burgundy négociants had mixed
feelings after the sale. The dominant emotion may have been pleasure that the Hospices de Beaune and the two benefiting charities would receive so much financial support, and that there had been such a powerful show of respect for Louis-Fabrice Latour. But there was also concern that prices had continued to rise, even in a much more generous vintage. Bacchus will also need to smile on the 2023 harvest before pressure on stocks can ease and there can be any hope of prices stabilizing.
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