I’m considering bidding on a barrel of wine at the annual Hospices de Beaune Wine Auction. Can anyone tell me what I might expect to pay to have the barrel cellared in France? For how long should I expect to cellar it before bottling, and how much should I expect bottling to cost?
Thanks in advance.
Jared , it depends on what wine you would like to purchase . It could be an inexpensive Villages wine or a grand Cru Batard or Mazis Chambertin . A barrel is 300 bottles so expect anywhere between 50 and 300+ Euro’s a bottle . You also need somebody who does the elevage for you . This could be a negotiant of a local like Henri Boillot . They charge x % per bottle . You will get your wine approx 2 years after purchase . The barrel is yours too if you really want that .
I am not sure if you can do the elevage yourself . Maybe you can but I’ve never heard of it .
Rules of the bidding proces are explained on the Hospices website . Good luck .
With friends , I bought 3 barrels over the years . The Mazis Chambertin 05 is a great wine , the Corton Charlemagne 07 delicious but I do not like the 08 Clos de la Roche . It’s not a good investment if you are buying with the goal of making a profit later . I was able to buy at good prices then but today , it has become too expensive imho .
20 yrs ago the elevage charge was approx 27%, though it may be higher (closer to 35/40 ) these days.When the auction was opened to the general public ( not just negotiants ) recently- a whole new group of winemakers started elevage of hospices wines. Good luck
Gentlemen, thanks for the replies.
I’m going to reach out to a couple of wineries that I am familiar with and see if I can get some numbers.
Can someone enlighten me on what type of product the domaine that would do the elevage, gets? Grapes, pressed juices, fermented juice, juice already in barrels? Ie curious to know what type of control a domaine would be able to assert over the finished product.
Juice in barrel.
in a not so great barrel that often gets switched out.
You could get David Klinger to ship when ready. Cue ‘I’m new here’ emoticon.
It took time for David to figure out the logistics of getting the wines to the US, but I got all my wine from David, and what I have tasted has been good. Elevage done by Bouchard (earlier years) or Faiveley (later years). The best one I have had was a 2008 Meursault Charmes - elevation done by Faiveley.
Since Christie s started to promote the auction in the Chinese market prices have skyrocketed.
Tasting before the auction is always a challenge as the wines will be eight weeks old and not done with ml.