Sawt Falasteen - Star power fails to perk up France's premiere wine auction

The world's oldest wine auction garnered fewer funds than organisers had hoped for, with just under 14 million euros ($14.7 million) -- well below last year's result and the 2022 record of 29 million euros.

"Let's bid high. What you're buying here represents lives saved," said British actor Dominic West, best known for playing King Charles III in the hit series "The Crown".

"Help us help others. Thank you very much," French actor Jean Reno told the hundreds of potential buyers.

The top prize, a barrel of first-growth Beaune wine -- the equivalent of 288 bottles -- sold for 360,000 euros plus a supplemental donation of 100,000 euros.

The proceeds from the barrel's sale will go to the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) charity, represented by West and French actor Zabou Breitman, and Spanish NGO Global Gift Foundation (GGF), which supports vulnerable children, whose ambassadors were Reno and Longoria.

MSF has said it would use its share of the sale to fund a project to curb dengue fever in Honduras, where cases are shooting up due to climate change.

"In Brazil, we have a lot of dengue fever (cases), we already know what that means," said the Brazilian buyer, Alaor Pereira Lino.

- Limited lots -

Proceeds from the rest of the sale were limited by the number of lots, at just 445 this year, the second-lowest figure in the history of the auction sale, which has existed since 1794.

Weather conditions slashed the harvest by half compared to the usual production, the Hospices de Beaune vineyard manager Ludivine Griveau told AFP.

The group of medical facilities counts on the money from the auction to maintain and modernise its centres, expenses that are not paid for by the French state.

The Hospices, which are home to one of the most prestigious vineyards in the world, have mainly lived off donations since they were founded.

"We are happy anyway," the hospital group's director Guillaume Koch told AFP.

"The money from the sale is vital."

R.Halabi--SF-PST