Hospices de Beaune Wine Sale

November is arrived : the beginning of the winter, the bad weather and the fresh temperature which accompany it, rains awaiting snows, days which shrink just a little more,…

But in November, it is also the famous Hospices de Beaune wine sale.

Each years, more particularly the third Sunday of November, Beaune, wine Burgundy‘s capital, celebrate the traditional event. On Sunday 20 November, the 151th Hospices de Beaune wine auction, the oldest and most prestigious charity wine sale in the world, is to take place at the Halles de Beaune. 

In 1443, at a time of misery and famine, Nicolas Rolin, chancellor to Philippe Le Bon, Duke of Burgundy, and his wife, Guigone de Salins, establish the Hotel-Dieu (Hospital) to take care of the ill and poor. Since its foundation, the Hospital has been funded by legacies and gifts in the form of money, land, buildings and –naturally in Burgundy– vineyards. In 1457, the first gift of vineyards is made by Guillemette Leverrier.

In 1859, for the first time, the Hospices wines are sold at auction.

Nowadays, the production area being run by the Hospices is close to 60 hectares, of which 50 are used for Pinot Noir, the rest for Chardonnay.

The 2011 crop is close in size to the average of recent decades. The Hospices will be offering 761 barrels called pieces (=One barrel, “une pièce”, contains 228 litres, or approximately 288 bottles of 75cl.): 618 pièces of red wine and 143 pièces of white wine. There will be 45 Cuvées at the wine auction - 32 of red and 13 of white.

Since 1945, every year the Hospices de Beaune has given its support to one or several charities by donating the value of one barrel of wine sold especially to that end: “la pièce du president” – the president’s barrel. This year, Ms. Ines de La Fressange will be the president of the Hospices de Beaune Wine Auction. She will be supporting the Association Mécénat Chirugie. France Alzheimer Association that fights against Alzheimer's disease, which is now recognized as a key, public health priority, will also be a beneficiary of proceeds from this barrel. After the sale, wine will be tended by a Burgundy merchant-wholesaler in whose cellars it will mature until the chosen moment of bottling.

While waiting for this event, don’t forget another date: Thursday November, 17^th:

The BEAUJOLAIS NOUVEAU DAY