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iDealwine appointed to run Hospices de Nuits auction
iDealwine has been appointed as the new auctioneers for the annual charity auction for the Hospices de Nuits-Saint-Georges, as the reputation of the sale grows.
The sale takes place in March each year at Burgundy’s Château du Clos de Vougeot.
Although the Hospices de Nuits was founded as home for lepers in 1270, evolving to provide healthcare for local people and building its wine estate through vineyard donation, the sale – now in its 64th edition – has typically been less well-known than the Hospices de Beaune.
However, the move looks to be part of a concerted effort to further build the prestige of the auction. Speaking of the new appointment, Guillaume Koch, director of the Hospices Civils de Beaune (the organising body of both the Hospices de Nuits and the Hospices de Beaune), said he was very pleased to partner with iDealwine.
“It is our ambition to grow the Hospices de Nuits-Saint-Georges’ reputation and iDealwine’s application really stood out to us. As the annual charity auction attracts an ever-increasing number of visitors and results to match, we can continue to showcase the estate’s wines, and the work carried out by the Hospices Civils de Beaune.”
iDealwine, which was founded in 2000, takes over from auctioneer Hugues Cortot of Cortot & Associés, who the organisation thanked Cortot, noting his hard his work over the past five years, which had seen “successive records broken” at the Hospices de Nuits-Saint-Georges, both for the special cask, the Cuvée des Bienfaiteurs, as well as the auction as a whole.
Speaking to db at the sale in March, Laurent Delaunay of négociant Edouard Delaunay noted that the reputation of Nuits-Saints-Georges had markedly increased in the last six or seven years, attracting more international appeal, even if the majority of buyers are still French negociants and syndicates of private buyers. It is also a source of considerable local pride.
The 2023 and 2024 sales for example contrasted with the 2017 and 2018, when some cuvees did not receive any bids. In 2023, the sale saw total receipts up 45% on the previous year to €3,603,000, while the charity pièce – a blend of the nine Nuits-St-Georges premiers crus – raised a record €64,580.
And although last year event saw an overall 36% decline on the 2023 total, to €2,281,500 (£1.94m), it was still the second-largest total in the auction’s 63-year history and also achieved the highest prices for its star barrels. The charity pièce Cuvée des Bienfaiteurs sold for a record €68,330 (up from €67,430 in 2023) while the Cuvée Hugues Perdrizet exceeded 2023’s result of €40,000 by a wide margin, following a record €60,000 bid from one of the auction’s biggest bidders, Maison Albert Bichot.
As a result, the slightly contradictory result in 2024 were seen to be reflected of several factors – the rising reputation of the sale and an exceptional vintage, set against lower production – there were 10 fewer barrels in the sales in 2024 year compared to the previous year – and indications of the cooling Burgundy market.
The Domaine des Hospices de Nuits-Saint-Georges comprises 12.4 hectares of vineyards throughout Nuits-St-Georges (where the majority are), Premeaux-Prissey, Vosne-Romanée and Gevrey-Chambertin, comprising eight village level parcels and nine Premier Crus- including the Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru ‘Les Didiers’ monopole appellation and a white Nuit-Saint-Georges Premier Cru.
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