More details have emerged about an impromptu auction of Burgundy 2009 premier cru wines on the eve of the Hospices de Beaune sale, which led to a one-off donation for victims of the Paris terror attacks.
The US branch of the Burgundy wine society Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin has donated €40k to help victims of the Paris attacks, which have left 130 dead and many more injured.
According to Arnaud Orsel, member of the Confrérie, the national committee of the group’s US arm made the donation for Paris victims by bidding on four jeroboams of Burgundy 2009 at an improvised auction at Clos de Vougeot the day before the Hospices de Beaune.
A celebration dinner known as the Chapitre des Trois Glorieuses is held annually at Clos de Vougeot on the eve of the Hospices sale. This year, Burgundy wine council BIVB decided to hold an auction in aid of what happened in Paris less than 24 hours earlier, Orsel said.
The US consortium won with a bid of €40,000 for four jeroboams of premier cru Burgundy 2009.
The wines, which would normally have been designated for auction to support other charitable causes, were:
- Vosne Romanée, vinified, aged and bottled by Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and Maison Joseph Drouhin
- Gevrey-Chambertin, vinified, aged and bottled by Domaine Dujac and Maison Faiveley
- Puligny Montrachet, vinified, aged and bottled by Domaine Leflaive and Maison Louis Jadot
- Meursault, vinified, aged and bottled by Domaine Roulot and Maison Louis Latour.
Doug Barzelay, head of the national committee for the Confrérie’s American body, said, ‘We visit Burgundy every November to taste the wines of the prior year (2014 this year), and we regularly attend the Chapitre des Trois Glorieuses at the Clos de Vougeot.’
There are around 40 chapters of the Confrérie across the US, including in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and New Orleans. Globally, there are 12,000 ‘knights’ – or chevaliers – in the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin, which was founded to promote Burgundy wine in 1934.
Separately, the BIVB has already said that some proceeds from the Pièce des Présidents top lot in the Hospices de Beaune 2015 auction would go to Paris victims.
(Editing by Chris Mercer)
