Two potential dates are now being studied by the supervisory board of the Hospices Civils de Beaune. This Tuesday, November 24, its president returned to the situation which led to the postponement of the oldest charity in France.
In the absence of a hammer blow, it was a hammer blow that fell on the world of Beaune wine on November 14 at 7 p.m. Scheduled for Sunday November 15 at 2:30 p.m. after much consultation, the sale of the wines of the Hospices Civils de Beaune was postponed less than 24 hours before the first hammer blow from the auctioneer of Christie’s.
Christie’s murky game
Reminder of the facts that followed from the announcement of the second confinement. The Hospices Civils, the City of Beaune and the Prefecture of Côte-d’Or had worked on a health protocol adapted to the configuration of the event. The number of participants in the halls is first restricted to buyers, organizers and journalists only, then revised to an increasingly reduced number, from 250 to 100 people. On November 2, the interministerial cell on Covid-19 approves the protocol.
On Thursday November 5, the traditional press conference organized in Paris by Christie’s to present the sale and announce the sponsor takes place by videoconference, which in Beaune, which in Paris (read our article). It is then indicated that the president of the sale, the singer Marc Lavoine, putting his notoriety at the service of the cause of the hospitaliers of France, beneficiaries of the charity coin, will broadcast a video but cannot be present on D-day.
During this press conference, while the actual sale is being organized, the general manager of Christie’s France, Aline Sylla-Walbaum, strangely insists on the operator’s ability to conduct virtual auctions. The director then puts forward a sale of books which “doubled its estimate” but is careful not to mention the “flop” of the Biennale de Paris (ex-Biennale des Antiquaires) of October 9 which raised 1.5 million euros out of the expected 7 million euros.
The regulator’s Trafalgar coup
On Friday, November 13, the Voluntary Sales Council arrives with a bang, showing its willingness to “suspend this public sale”. The body unknown to the general public is the regulatory authority for auctions. It is difficult to imagine that the CVV discovered its organizational conditions two days before the event. Especially since Cécile Verdier, president of Christie’s France was a member of this board. Cécile Verdier would have resigned after the affair but, to this day, still appears on the CVV’s “trombinoscope”.
On Saturday November 14 at 2:30 p.m., the Hospices Civils announced that they had offered Christie’s a practical solution isolating its agents from buyers to avoid any risk of contagion linked to the event. Several times, the director François Poher recalled that it was all the same a health establishment which organized the sale. The chairman of the supervisory board, Alain Suguenot saying he is ready to set up antigenic tests at the entrance to the halls.
Alas, a few hours later, faced with the reluctance of the CVV, the prefecture and Hospices agree to postpone the sale for both security and serenity issues (find the various press releases).
“I will maintain the sale of wines as they were”
This Tuesday, November 24, 2020, on the sidelines of a situation update concerning the site of the Cité des vins et des climats de Bourgogne, the mayor of Beaune Alain Suguenot returns to the “abracadrabrantesque” affair (read our editorial) and consider the various options regarding the deferral.
For Alain Suguenot, organizing auctions completely online would have had serious consequences: “we never sold wines again”. Or, at least, it was turning your back on the spirit of the event. “I will maintain the sale of wines as it was” insists the mayor. “With the prefect, we both decided to postpone because we did not agree with the CVV, (…) now, the CVV must reverse its decision” he adds. In addition, Alain Suguenot is surprised that Christie’s did not appeal the decision of the CVV.
“Usually, a voluntary sale, it is the auctioneer who organizes the sale. There, it is the Hospices that sell ”explains Alain Suguenot. “When the CVV says ‘we suspend the sale of wines’, it has no quality to do so, (…) it only has disciplinary power” protested the mayor. The statement from the Voluntary Sales Council arrived late enough to prevent the organizers from finding another structure to proceed with the sale. For its part, Christie’s did not seem ready to risk a sanction before its regulatory authority by participating in the sale as announced.
“It is also a popular festival for the city”
On November 24, the supervisory board of the Hospices Civils de Beaune met and the new date of the sale was on the agenda. “We try to do it before December 31,” indicates Alain Suguenot, chairman of the supervisory board, mainly for reasons of closing accounts of buyers at the end of the calendar year. In which case, the date could fall on December 13 or December 20. This option is only possible if the CVV reviews its copy.
However, it is possible to have thirteen-month fiscal years. “It would perhaps be more profitable to make a sale on January 17” reflects Alain Suguenot. Especially since bars and restaurants could remain closed at least until January 15, according to what the Ministry of the Economy told the Point and France Info. The government spokesperson did not confirm.
Saluting the memory of Antoine Jacquet, former director of the Hospices, Alain Suguenot evokes reflections on the fundamentals of wine sales: “it is also a popular festival for the city, (…) it is the only way that ‘we have to make our hospital exist ”. The benefits for businesses are estimated at 7 million euros while, in good years, auctions bring 12 million euros to the budget of the Hospices Civils de Beaune, which does not receive state subsidies.
Regarding the wines themselves, the juices are currently stored in the winery of the Hospices Civils de Beaune wine estate. The principle, however, is that the merchants themselves raise the wines they have acquired.
“An auction, there is also everything that happens in the room”
If the sale were organized relatively quickly in 2021, Christie’s could be the operator by establishing an amendment to the contract. On the other hand, the delegation to be renewed, a new tendering procedure will be launched, which could lead to an opening of the envelopes at the beginning of February 2021. The supervisory board of the Hospices Civils de Beaune still hopes to be able to take a decision by November 29.
In both cases, December or January, the mayor of Beaune remains confident about the presence of buyers who had planned to participate physically on November 15. Many are Burgundians, a few are Belgian or even Swiss. “An auction, there is also everything that happens in the room” insists Alain Suguenot. Just to take recent sales, the banter of Fabrice Luchini and the glasses of Adriana Karembeu have marked the spirits. Not insignificant interventions according to Alain Suguenot: “it can be 20% of figure because there is a kind of emulation”.
Jean-Christophe Tardivon
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