The 2023 Hospices de Beaune Auction Offer Document
A unique wine buying opportunity
163 years of exquisite wines & fundraising
Right: A sce ne f rom the 2022 auction, which raised €29m for char itable cau ses
The Hospices de Beaune cuvées are completely unique gems which offer Burgundy lovers a rare opportunity to own 1er Cru & Grand Cru wines at attractive prices compared to those from the top producers en primeur. In 1443, near the end of the Hundred Years War, the chancellor of Beaune, under Philippe the Good, founded a hospital for unfortunates and started a religious order to tend to the sick. Since this hospital sat at the crossroads of a wine producing region, it wasn’t long before the sisters healed a few local vinters who, in gratitude for their return to health, handed over hunks of their vineyards. Soon the Hospice had sizeable holdings and sales of the wine production on these deeded lands helped subsidise hospital operations. By 1859 the sales were formalized into an annual auction which Christie’s took over in 2005, raising the profile of the auction worldwide, before handing over to Sotheby’s in 2021.
The 2023 Burgundy Vintage The 2023 v intage in Burg undy is one of great promise, variously described as somewhere bet ween ver y good and excellent, given the dr y conditions for har vest. Impor tantly for Hospices de Beaune speculators, y ields appear to be up on 2022 by as much as 8-10% before triage, meaning that issues of supply which drove up prices last year, w ill have abated for most cuvées at this years’ auction. Ludiv ine Griveau, the head w inemaker for the Hospices de Beaune across all sites, was delighted w ith the qualit y of the 2023’s, noting that “We worked through 12 days of heat wave in this har vest. The hete roge neit y is impressive – some cuvées we are treating like those of a heat wave vintage – but othe rs not – e ve n f rom the same appellation. 12.6° is our star ting point up to about 13. 4° – all natural. It ’s histor ically still a ver y early vintage. We can say that it ’s a vintage with ple nt y of f r uit – this for the second consecutive year.” By all accounts the whites w ill display beautif ul aromatic complexit y married to ver y good acidit y, alongside reds whose colours and poly phenols ex tracted ver y easily, making for w ines w ith deep colour and profound str ucture. 2023 was the third year of organic v iticulture for the Hospices de Beaune and, put simply, all signs point to outstanding w ines at ever y appellation and cr u level.
Our Offer Both of us, Dominic from Clos Fine Wine, and Dav id from Wild Boar Wine, are delighted to have teamed up to work together this year, enabling us to tackle the auction strongly and offer our combined client list the chance to join us in the magic of securing rare w ines from the auction. Over the years both of us have enjoyed rich experiences securing w ines at auction, including the Hospices de Beaune. We are delighted to have cultivated thriv ing relationships w ith Sotheby’s and w ith A lberic Bichot, the President of Maison A lber t Bichot, annually the biggest buyers at the Hospices de Beaune auction.
How it works In consultation w ith the Presidents of Maison A lber t Bichot and Maison Joseph Drouhin, we have selected six cuvées from the Hospices de Beaune auction offering the ver y best examples of Burg undy ’s unique terroir and value for money. We w ill be heading to the auction in person, f irst to taste the barrels and then to bid up to a set ma ximum bid for our chosen lots (communicated on the follow ing page as the ma ximum cost in bond per case). The f inal price is dependent on where the hammer falls at the auction but we, as ever, w ill strive for the ver y lowest price possible. To aid our bid approach for the auction, we’re inv iting you to make commitments of interest in any or all of the six cuvées. Dominic & Dav id w ill speak to you personally to gauge the level of your interest. This w ill enable us to more f inely judge volume demand for each lot. Should the hammer price exceed our ma ximum bids, we’ll have an appropriate and highly-rated back-up option for each cuvée. Once the auction is completed, all w ines we secure w ill be conf irmed and invoiced w ith our clients whilst the barrels themselves mature under Ms Drouhin & Bichot’s watchf ul eyes. They w ill then be bottled w ith personalised labels (Clos Fine Wine x Wild Boar Wine TBC), they w ill be shipped to the UK in their original wooden cases in Q2 of 2025. The w ines can then be stored w ith us, or released from bond to you, at which point dut y and VAT w ill be payable. Our chosen cuvées can be found on the next page
The Wines Below are some of the sought-af ter cuveés we’re considering bidding for. We’ll only decide on our final list once we’ve tasted all barrel samples in situ with Alberic Bichot, and discussed the bidding environment with him. Since 2021, prices have climbed considerably, though we hope that the more plentiful 2023 crop will alleviate supply issues. Our estimate prices below are deliberately high, and set as a worst case scenario: we hope for lower hammer prices. Estimated 6x75cl price in bond Beaune 1er Cru, Cuvée Maurice Drouhin Sumtous flesh and very aromatic - a very special Beaune 1er Cru overseen by Monsieur Drouhin personally
£650-£850
Pommard, Cuvée Suzanne Chaudron £550-£725 A brilliant 1er Cru each year, with minerality & poise. Flecks of black cherries, orange liqueur, bergamot & violet. Volnay 1er Cru, Cuvée Général Muteau £800-£1,000 Rich and complex fruit, with crushed black fruits and a hint of spice, but with cashmere soft tannins Meursault 1er Ceu ‘Les Porusots’ or ‘Les Charmes’ Two superb Meursaults in a brilliant vintage. White blossom, light butteriness and a sublime, long finish. Classic Meursault.
£1600-£1,950
Beaune Blanc 1er Cru ‘Les Montrevenots’, Cuvée Suzanne et Raymond A consistently impressive Beaune Blanc, with real structure & depth, lime zest, fresh flowers & white pepper.
£800-£1,050
Pouilly-Fuissé, Cuvée Françoise Poisard Laser-focussed concentration, with a gorgeous, voluptuous body and enduring freshness and vitality on the finish. First class.
£550-£775
Plea se indicate by retur n which cuvées and quantities you are interested in, which will enable us to plan our auction strategy more precisely.
The Clos & Wild Boar auction exper ience In inviting you to join us as we bid for these vinous gems, we are delighted to offer the following experiences for those who secure wine from the 2023 Hospices de Beaune auction with us:
Weekend Beaune trip & barrel tasting w ith A lberic Bichot Clients who secure w ine from the 2023 auction w ill be inv ited to join us on a trip nex t year to Beaune and v isit the barrels we purchase, whilst also taking par t in an out-of-barrel tasting w ith A lberic Bichot, president of Maison A lber t Bichot.
Personalised bottle labelling In conjunction w ith the Hospices de Beaune, we’re able to offer for a small fee the option of personalised bottle labelling for clients. Nex t to the famous crest of the Hospices, clients may have their names printed as the ow ners of these exceptional w ines.