by Hervé Lalau
The 146th auction of the Hospices de Beaune took place last Sunday, the 18th of November. 680 barrels of Burgundy were on sale. Traditionally, what was originally a charity event is now seen as a barometer for the price of the local wines. If
confirmed, then white Burgundy prices should skyrocket next year: the average winning bid at the auction was up 63% on 2005, at 11,150 euro per barrel of 228 litres (300 bottles). No such explosion was observed for the reds, however, which closed on average at 4,417 euros, up 1.1% over 2005. Overall, prices were up 15.8%.
Analysts provide several explanations for this dichotomy. First, due to a rainy August that was hard on pinot noir, 2006 is generally considered a better year for whites; second, this year saw the opening of the auction, which has been managed by Christie s since 2005, to the general public; and last but not least, the yield for the whites was considerably lower than last year, with 680 rather that 789 barrels on sale.
Some record prices were reached: 63,667 Euro for a barrel of Bâtard-Montrachet and 25,000 Euro for Clos de la Roche. Total sales reached 3.98 million Euros, up 5% on 2005 despite a 15% decrease in volumes offered.
It is too soon to say if this spectacular increase for the whites must be seen as a turning point for the Burgundy market. Whereas Grands Crus climbed to unknown heights at the auction, other wines were difficult to sell: Is then the barometer really reliable for the whole region? was a question asked by several wine merchants present.
Since 2002, and the anti-French movement in America, Burgundy - that sells half of its wines abroad - has faced several difficult years; but now, the Sideways factor and the gradual acceptance of the low dollar are helping the region to win back the traditionally large US market. America swallows 16% of all Burgundy in volume and represents a quarter of total export in value. Last year, sales to American grew by 18% in volume and 15% in value. Nonetheless, the number one market for Burgundy remains Britains, albeit principally because of Chablis sales there. The British buy a third of all the Burgundy sold outside of France and although export prices there were down 3%, imports increased by 6% in volume last during the last campaign.
