155th Hospices de Beaune Wine Auction

The oldest and most famous charity wine sale will take place on Novembre 15th.

The Hospices de Beaune were created in the nineteenth century, at the end of the Hundred Years War of the will of Nicolas Rolin, chancellor of the Duke of Burgundy Philippe Le Bon with primary vocation to take care of poorest patients. From then until the twentieth century hospital sisters (sœurs hospitalières) take care of the sick, the elderly, infirm and orphans.

Over the centuries men and women bequeathed plots of vines to the Hospices de Beaune and the building as the domaine as a reflection of the generosity of Burgundy people. Each batch takes its name from the historic donor of the vineyard.

Thanks to donations, throughout history, many donors, the Domaine des Hospices de Beaune is today one of the largest / diverse domaines of ​​Burgundy. This stretch of 60 hectares of vineyards, produced 48 cuvées and has 85% of its vineyards classified as Premier Cru and Grand Cru.

This year 575 pieces, divided into 48 cuvées (33 of red wine and 15 of white wine) will be on sale (117 pieces of white wine and 458 pieces of red wine). A piece is equal to 288 bottles or 24 cases of 12 bottles (or 6 magnums).

The 155th Wine auction of the Hospices de Beaune will be marked by the arrival of a new cuvée of white wine : Chablis Premier Cru Côte de Léchet – Cuvée Jean-Marc Brocard. It will be the first time a Chablis wine will be on offer at the Hospices de Beaune wine auction. This wine comes from a parcel of 0,199 hectares that has been donated to the Hospices de Beaune by Jean-Marc Brocard (winemaker in Chablis).

This year the sale will be under the presidency of Claire Chazal (journalist), representing the Curie Institute and Christopher Lambert (Actor) representing the « Fondation pour la recherche sur les AVC » (Foundation for stroke research). This year, as traditionally, the auction of the Hospices de Beaune will take place on the third Sunday in November (November 15).

The sale will be again organized by the famous auction house Christie’s. Buyers will, in addition to bid on site, make offers online and by phone.

Opinion of Ludivine Griveau, manager of the Domaine des Hospices Wine on the 2015 vintage

« The whites : at this stage we have generous wines, with aromas of fennel, anise, yellow fruits ; from very ripe grapes, they are nevertheless tonic and the acidities are promising. Natural alcohol levels are all high and terroir typicity respected.

The reds : They are rather dark in colour, with lovely purple nuances. Acidity levels are satisfactory and tannins very concentrated and fleshy ; therefore, maceration was managed so as to gently extract tannins that were all very ripe (including those of the pips) while respecting their overall harmony. At this start of ageing, fresh fruit aromas are to be found (strawberry, blackberry, raspberry) and there are tannins present that barre ageing will help to enrich.

All wines are very different from each other. They reflect all their appellations, their terroir and their villages, more than in other vintages. This is a characteristic of this vintage that we found and what makes me happy is that other people have told us. To say that each of our wines have their own personality and represent their terroir is the greatest compliment.

More generally on the vintage 2015 is a warm and dry year. We had a few small rain (10mm) which allowed us to ensure the quality, very good quality. However, the amounts are not huge. The first leaves, the flower and veraison were quite early compared to previous years. 

We started the harvest on August 27 with the vineyards of Pouilly-Fuissé in the Chaintré then interrupted them. We resumed the proofed September 2 and they lasted 7 days, which is very fast.

Regarding red wines were totally scuffed production this year and is longer than usual maceration (21 days). » (Ludivine Griveau)

The « Pièce des Présidents » and associations

« Since 1945, every year the Hospices de Beaune have lent their support to one or more charities by donating the proceeds from one barrel of wine, called a « pièce » in Burgundy, sold especially for that purpose.

This year the Pièce des Présidents is a unique cuvée. It comes from the Corton Renardes Grand Cru appellation and will be absolutely unique from every point of view ! In fact, all of the Domaine’s parcels of Corton ‘Les Renardes’ appellation were put together so that their magnificent grapes could be vinified separately. From theme, we have made a wine both powerful and racy, with ripe, full tannins and notes of very ripe black fruits.

It was directly from de-vatting (décuvage), therefore, that we created this barrel, with the rest of the vat destined for the preparation of the magnificent Cuvée Charlotte Dumay.

It’s thus the only barrel in the world of Corton Renardes Grand Cru Hospices de Beaune 2015 ! »

The two associations chosen for the 2015 charity sale are the « Institut Curie », principal actor in the fight against cancer and the « Fondation pour la recherche sur les AVC » which aims to promote and develop research in the field of neurovascular diseases including strokes. The first one was created in 1909 by the famous scientist Marie Curie and the second was created 1 year ago in Paris.

The 48 Cuvées of the Hospices de Beaune 2015

33 Cuvées of red wine:

1. Auxey-Duresses Premier Cru-Les Duresses – Cuvée boillot
2. Beaune Premier Cru – Cuvée Brunet
3. Beaune Premier Cru Clos des Avaux
4. Beaune Premier Cru – Cuvée Cyrot Chaudron
5. Beaune Premier Cru – Cuvée Dame Hospitalières
6. Beaune Premier Cru – Cuvée Guigone de Salins
7. Beaune Premier Cru – Cuvée Hugues et Louis Betault
8. Beaune Premier Cru – Cuvée Maurice Drouhin
9. Beaune Premier Cru – Cuvée Nicolas Rolin
10. Beaune Premier Cru – Cuvée Rousseau Deslandes
11. Beaune Premier Cru-Les Greves – Cuvée Pierre Floquet
12. Clos de la Roche Grand Cru – Cuvée Cyrot Chaudron
13. Clos de la Roche Grand Cru – Cuvée Georges Kritter
14. Corton Grand Cru – Cuvée Charlotte Dumay
15. Corton Grand Cru-Clos du Roi – Cuvée Baronne du Bay
16. Corton Grand Cru – Cuvée Docteur Peste
17. Echezeaux Grand Cru – Cuvée Jean-Luc Bissey
18. Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru – Cuvée Madeleine Collignon
19. Monthelie Premier Cru-Les Duresses – Cuvée Lebelin
20. Pernand-Vergelesses Premier Cru-Les Vergelesses – Cuvée Rameau Lamarosse
21. Pommard – Cuvée Billardet
22. Pommard Premier Cru – Cuvée Dames de la Charité
23. Pommard – Cuvée Raymond Cyrot
24. Pommard – Cuvée Suzanne Chaudron
25. Pommard Premier Cru-Les Epenots – Cuvée Dom Gobelet
26. Santenay – Cuvée Christine Friedberg
27. Savigny-Les-Beaune Premier Cru – Cuvée Arthur Girard
28. Savigny-Les-Beaune Premier Cru-Les Vergelesses – Cuvée Forneret
29. Savigny-Les-Beaune Premier Cru – Cuvée Fouquerand
30. Volnay Premier Cru – Cuvée Blondeau
31. Volnay Premier Cru – Cuvée General Muteau
32. Volnay Premier Cru-Les Santenots – Cuvée Gauvain
33. Volnay Premier Cru-Les Santenots – Cuvée Jehan de Massol

15 Cuvées of white wine:

1. Batard-Montrachet grand Cru – Cuvée Dames de Flandres
2. Beaune Blanc Premier Cru-Les Montrevenots – Cuvée Suzanne et Raymond
3. Chablis Premier Cru Côte de Léchet – Cuvée Jean-Marc Brocard
4. Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru – Cuvée François de Salins
5. Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru – Cuvée du Roi Soleil
6. Corton-Vergennes Grand Cru – Cuvée Paul Chanson
7. Meursault Premier Cru-Les Charmes – Cuvée Albert Griveau
8. Meursault Premier Cru-Les Charmes – Cuvée de Bahezre de Lanlay
9. Meursault Premier Cru-Les Genevrieres – Cuvée Baudot
10. Meursault Premier Cru-Les Genevrieres – Cuvée Philippe le Bon
11. Meursault Premier Cru-Les Porusots – Cuvée Jehan Humblot
12. Meursault – Cuvée Goureau
13. Meursault – Cuvée Loppin
14. Pouilly-Fuissé – Cuvée Françoise Poisard
15. Saint-Romain blanc – Cuvée Joseph Menault