"Exceptional".

"Unbelievable".

"Unimaginable".

Superlatives abounded among the 800 buyers gathered under the Halles de Beaune (Côte-d'Or), capital of Burgundy wines, while around 8:30 p.m. Sunday the auction had already exceeded 26 million euros in total revenue (excluding costs ), an increase of more than 80% compared to the previous record of 2018 (13.97 M EUR).

At this time, however, there were still nearly a quarter of the lots for sale, which suggests a total final product close to 30 million euros.

The abundance of the 2022 harvest had certainly unleashed forecasts of new records, but without anticipating such a level.

This year, in fact, the number of lots was exceptional: 802 pieces were up for grabs, not far from the highest of 843 lots in 2018.

It is because the harvest was abundant in 2022 in Burgundy, the heavy rains of June having enabled the vines to resist the summer drought well to the point of giving an "exceptional" vintage.

“We have gone from one extreme to 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 cut in half by a devastating spring frost.

Only 356 casks had been offered for sale that year, unheard of since 1977.

After 2021's scarcity, 2022's abundance has whetted "buyers' appetites," says Aouli.

“After the Covid years and the travel restrictions, a lot of customers came from afar,” he adds.

China's Lin Legun, a buyer for clients in the Middle Kingdom, is one of them.

Burgundy wines are of "enormous" interest to the Chinese, she explains to AFP.

"And when Asia starts to love a rare product...", she continues in an allusion to the recent surge in prices.

"The demand continues to increase"

"The demand for Burgundy wines continues to increase", adds Marie-Anne Ginoux, director of Sotheby's France, who points out that her house established a record amount of wine sales in 2021, at 132 million dollars, made almost half by Burgundies.

Already at the end of the afternoon, the "presidents' room", a prestigious cask traditionally dedicated to a charity other than the Hospices, had already reached a new record at 810,000 euros, against 800,000 euros last year.

“Bravo to all”, then launched from the top of the platform Frédéric Drouhin, president of the great Burgundy wine house which bears his name, after having won crazy auctions within a collective of traders.

The recipe for this "piece", as this 228-litre (288-bottle) cask is called in Burgundy, was reserved for the Princess Margot and Vision du Monde children's aid associations.

"The most depressing thing is seeing a child suffer," said Mr. Drouhin, who himself lost a daughter to cancer.

"In France, 2,500 children suffer from cancer every day, 20% of whom will not survive," said Muriel Hattab, president of Princess Margot, the name of her daughter who did not survive the disease.

"Bravo", also ignited the actor Benoît Magimel, who came to raise the stakes with the host Flavie Flament, to the cheers of the buyers.

In addition to the "presidents' room", 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 grouped together by 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.

© 2022 AFP