1985: Great Vintage, but at a price

Press, 28 December 1985, Page 23

1985: Great Vintage, but at a price

by AUDREY STUART of Reuters Beaune If you have a weakness for the rich, red wines of Burgundy, 1985 could be a year to remember. It looks like being the. first great vintage since 1978 — but prices could be steep.

Producers and merchants no longer fix the prices of Burgundies in line with the renowned sale at the Hospices de Beaune, but the event still sets the tone. This year, reds rose an average 86 per cent, and whites were up by a third. The auction netted a record total of just over 25 million francs ($5.66 million) for the local hospital, which owns 58 hectares of some of the world’s finest vineyards. Of the 555 casks up for sale, few went to French buyers. The highest price for a red Burgundy was 70,000 francs ($16,284) for a cask of Mazis Chambertin.

This was nearly 100 per cent higher than the most expensive red last year, and works out at about $564 a

bottle. Merchants were not overjoyed at the price rises, fearing customers may turn to wines from other regions if Burgundies get too expensive.

A buyer at one of the most respected Parisian wine merchants called the Hospices de Beaune prices “scandalous,” while Louise Latour, a leading Burgundian wine merchant and producer, described them as exaggerated.

Mr Latour said he feared for the region’s other wines, but there was unlikely to be a rerun of the disastrous experience of the 1972-73 and 1979-80 seasons, when buyers shunned the wine because of high prices. Clients do not have the huge stocks of Burgundy they had in the 19705, so the situation was less perilous, he said, although if merchants charged foreign buyers very high prices, there could be a risk of deterring them.

There had been a “tacit agreement” among most

local merchants at the Hospices auction not to buy at elevated prices.

“We didn’t want to compete with foreign buyers who wanted to demonstrate their interest in this vintage,” Mr Latour said.

Production in 1985 was reduced by severe winter weather and spring frosts, so the total is expected to be down on last year’s estimated 2.02 million hectolitres.

The Chablis region was particularly hard hit, the Burgundy Producers’ Assocaition said. But uninterrupted summer sunshine and exceptionally hot weather in late summer and autumn provided ideal conditions for the grapes. The Producers’ Association, noting that the 1985 vintage was “very fine,” described the white wines as well-balanced, generous and full, with rich bouquets that match their quality. The reds are deep in colour, with intense bouquets, well-balanced and harmonious, it said.