Beaune (France) (AFP)

The charity coin of the Hospices de Beaune's 159th auction, a Corton Grand Cru Les Bressandes, was auctioned Sunday for € 260,000 for two charities, a little more than last year but far from the 2015 record to 480,000 euros.

The auction, under the hammer of Christie's, are quickly mounted, eventually won by a Brazilian buyer, Alaor Pereira Lino, who offers for the second year in a row the room called "President", having already contributed to its purchase in 2017.

"The wines in the Presidents' Room are special wines and the work done by the Hospices de Beaune is magnificent," commented Mr. Lino, importer of wine in Brazil, before adding: "But I'm doing a good job because that I will receive a wonderful wine ".

The Presidents' Coin was sold this year to the Brain and Spinal Cord Institute and the Autour des Williams Association, which supports research into Williams Syndrome, a genetic disease.

Sponsors Tony Parker, the journalist Ophélie Meunier and actors Christophe Lambert and François-Xavier Demaison had raised the stakes, the latter even threatening to stop drinking Burgundy if they did not rise enough. "Sales will be affected," he joked.

After two consecutive years of success, the organizers of the famous Hospices de Beaune sale offered 589 casks for sale this year, 30% less than after the exceptional harvest of 2018, while Burgundy realized this year one of the best from its smallest harvests in 20 years, to 1.2 million hectoliters.

But quality is at the rendezvous, according to professionals. These are wines "very Burgundy, with good levels of acidity and a clear desire to express their terroir", according to the Regisseur of the field of Hospices, Ludivine Griveau.

The auction, which had reached a record 14 million euros in 2018, was due to end on Sunday night. Last year, two "Presidents' coins" were put up for sale and sold for 230,000 euros to three associations.

The recipe - out of charity - will be donated to the hospital institution Hospices founded in the fifteenth century, to finance the modernization of the hospital and the maintenance of the historic building of the Hotel Dieu.

© 2019 AFP