Maison Edouard Delaunay has renewed its commitment to the Hospices de Nuits-Saint-Georges and supported its 62nd wine auction. The Domaine des Hospices de Nuits-Saint-Georges, founded in 1270, is both a hospital and producer of Burgundy wines. In addition to the ancient hospital, the Hospices de Nuits owns a more than 12ha wine estate, directed by winemaker Jean-Marc Moron.
Taking place every year on the second Sunday of March at the Château du Clos de Vougeot is the auction of the Hospices de Nuits-Saint-Georges, little sister to the Hospices de Beaune wine auction held each autumn. The 62nd edition of this auction offered as many as 160 barrels or pièces, representing 19 cuvées, from the 2022 vintage, with each amounting to 288 bottles of 75cl after ageing, including one charity pièce sold by the bottle.
For the second year in a row, the proceeds from the sale of this Pièce de Charité, or Benefactors’ Barrel, will benefit the Blouses Roses association which works with hospitalised children and elderly people in medicalised residences. The cuvée is composed of a blend of wine from the nine Premiers Crus owned by the Hospices de Nuits.
Despite raising more than ever, a total of €3.6m, the average barrel price was down, notably due to the region’s recent growth, with the money raised allowing the winemaking hospital to take care of its patients, vineyards and buildings. Selling wines sourced from the aforementioned wine estate, almost all came from Nuits-Saints-Georges with a smallholding in Gevrey-Chambertin. Three barrels in this year’s sale contained white wine from the Terres Blanches premier cru, with the rest all being red wine.
Historic buyer
The auction attracted wine merchants, professional buyers, connoisseurs and wine lovers interested in the wines of Bourgogne, along with Edouard Delaunay, a historic buyer in the auction, now owned by Laurent Delaunay, great-grandson of Edouard and winemaker/ founder of the Badet-Clément company.
Delaunay brought the house, which was founded by Edouard Delaunay in 1893, back into the family in 2017. For almost a century, it played an important role in the international development of Burgundy wines.
Before the first auction in 1961, Laurent Delaunay’s grandfather was the exclusive buyer of the Hospices de Nuits wines in the 1940s.
Edouard Delaunay produces about Laurent Delaunay 50 cuvées, from regional appellations to Grands Crus from the Côte de Nuits and the Côte de Beaune. Speaking on the other wines in its profile at a tasting ahead of the auction, Laurent Delaunay said: “Knowing the terroir and the vineyards where the grapes come from, we have a very clear idea of what we are going to get in terms of style. Every terroir has its own style and we help the wine to go in the right direction and to express its potential.”
With this in mind, the producer’s traditional participation in the Hospices de Nuits-Saint-Georges auction continued this year, as it purchased a total of 12 barrels, giving wine lovers and collectors the opportunity to acquire, en primeur, several cuvées that will be aged in the cellars of the Château de Charmont, in the heart of the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, with the development of the wines overseen by Laurent Delaunay’s team.
