Definition: Hospices de Beaune 3

Beaune, 18 November 2007


147th AUCTION OF THE WINES OF THE HOSPICES DE BEAUNE
18 November 2007

• The total amount of the auction was €4,652,272 ( including fees)
• The 469 bottles of red wine and 138 bottles of white wine totalled €4,586,073
(including fees and excluding the President's case)*
• Burgundy wine prices up 27%
• Spectacular 38% rise in red wines
• The President's Case: €65,000
• Traditional sale of wines by the case.

This year, the Domaine des Hospices de Beaune offered a smaller quantity of wine for sale than in 2006, namely 607 lots compared to 680 last year (–10.7%), for two reasons. Firstly, very careful sorting during the harvest and in the winery, and secondly, rigorous screening of the vineyards in order to optimise the quality of the wines. For each cuvée, only the finest, most aromatic produce from the vines, leading to the densest fruit content, was selected. A new cuvée was added this year, the Corton Clos du Roi, Cuvée Baronne du Baÿ, and there are now 30 red wine cuvées and 12 white wine cuvées; and as last year, some cuvées were aged in old barrels instead of new ones.

Under the hammer of François Curiel, President of Christie's Europe, andEmmanuelle Vidal-Delagneau, Director of Development at Christie's France, the auction raised €4,652,272.

"It was with great enthusiasm that buyers bid at this 147th Hospices de Beaune Wine Auction. Burgundy wine merchants, traditional customers of the auction, responded energetically to the lively bidding by private individuals from all over the world, present both in the auction room in Beaune and by telephone or online. We are delighted to see that the pre-sale tastings organised by Christie's in Sydney, Hong Kong, New York, London, Paris and Beaune have helped to raise awareness of the Hospices' wines and sparked some exciting bidding wars for the benefit of this wonderful institution," said Emmanuelle Vidal-Delagneau.

"The numerous buyers in the room, on the telephone and online showed sustained interest throughout the sale, with new customers from Asia, Australia, the United States and Europe placing bids. Record prices were achieved for bottles of Corton Vergennes, Clos de la Roche and Mazis-Chambertin. Seven new lots of Cuvée Corton Clos du Roi were sold for an average of €12,000 per lot (excluding fees), reaching a new record level for Corton wines. The quality of the 2007 vintage offered by the Hospices de Beaune estate, the growing demand for Burgundy wines and the reduction in quantities offered this year explain the 38% increase in the average price of a case of red wine," added Anthony Hanson, Master of Wine and Christie's International Consultant for the sale.

Christie's Christie's Live is the first auction house to have developed a unique online auction service in France and worldwide, allowing users to follow and bid live in all of the Anglo-Saxon auction house's sales. The 147th Hospices de Beaune wine auction ushered in the era of virtual bidding, with numerous internet users from Belgium, the United States, France, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the Czech Republic participating today, generating around a hundred bids.
In order to welcome these internet users to Christie's Live, the auction system for the 147th Hospices de Beaune wine auction has been simplified. The buyer of the first item in a series now has the option of purchasing other items at the same auction price, within the limit of the number of items in the series. If the buyer of the first item does not wish to exercise this option for the entire series, it is transferred to the buyer of the next item, who in turn may choose to purchase one or more items, and so on until the end of the series.

The President's Lot
,650 euros

Since 1945, the Hospices de Beaune have supported one or more charities each year by donating the profits from a wine lot sold explicitly for this purpose: the President's Lot. This year, it was a Beaune Premier Cru lot, Cuvée Dames Hospitalières.
The President of the auction, Richard Berry, who came to support France ADOT, the federation of associations for organ and blood donation, touched the audience with his generosity and his speech, while three charming Miss France contestants, supporting the causeof ELA, the European Leukodystrophy Association, held the hammer and auctioned the President's Lot for €65,000.

Destination of the funds raised during the sale

The funds raised will be used to finance a project to modernise and expand the hospital and the Nicolas Rolin Centre, at an estimated total cost of €40 million. The aim is to improve patient comfort, bring the infrastructure up to the latest safety standards and improve working conditions for healthcare staff.

* £4,286,050 under the hammer

All information about Christie's auction group, as well as the Beaune wine auction, can be found at the official Internet links: