The 552 lots from the annual Hospices de Beaune charity wine auction in Burgundy, France, organized by Sotheby’s, made €18.75 million ($21.5 million) on Sunday. It was the third highest total achieved by the historic sale, which has been running since 1859. Last year’s auction took the equivalent of $15.2 million.
The top lot, typically called “Pièce des Présidents” (the “Presidents’ Barrel”), was a 228-liter barrel of Pommard Premier Cru Les Rugiens, donated by Hospices de Beaune to raise funds for two charities of its choosing. It sold for €400,000 ($463,000), a record price for a barrel of the white Grand Cru cuvée.
Sotheby’s auctioneer Aurélie Vandevoorde stood at the rostrum before the 700 or so attendees in the Halle de Beaune, encouraging them to bid by cracking the odd joke. Her humor worked; the average hammer price for a barrel of red and white wine was €33,930 ($39,270), marking a 4.6 percent increase on 2024. It was also the fifth consecutive year in which the average price per barrel has topped €30,000 ($34,724).
Prominent names from France’s movie and music industries were present, including Cédric Klapisch, Vincent Lacoste, Alice Taglioni, and Martin Solveig.
In total, 428 barrels of 34 reds and 111 barrels (including two half barrels) of 18 whites sold. Eleven barrels of eaux-de-vie were also snapped up, with 370 registered bidders, online and in the room.
“The response to this year’s wines has been extraordinary,” Nick Pegna, Sotheby’s global head of wines and spirits, told ARTnews. “The sustained rise in average barrel prices, particularly for the whites, shows just how enthusiastically the market continues to respond to the Hospices’ wines, and reflects a deep confidence in the direction of the domaine under Ludivine Griveau’s leadership. Collectors travelled from all over the world, creating an atmosphere of real energy in the room – their enthusiasm speaks to the enduring prestige of the Hospices de Beaune and the remarkable quality of this year’s harvest.”
Every November, the charity sale raises money for the Hôtel-Dieu, a Paris hospital, and the wider Hospices de Beaune charitable hospital network, an institution founded in the 15th century to care for the sick and the poor. Over the centuries, the Hospices acquired an extensive vineyard portfolio, many of them donated by benefactors, spread across 60 hectares in Burgundy. This year’s vintage in the region was shaped by unusual growing conditions, including two heatwaves followed by a rainy harvest season that produced small, healthy berries that the Bourgogne Wine Board (BIVB) described as “packed with flavour and colour.”
“We are delighted to have just achieved the third-largest sale in our history. Once again, the white wines held some wonderful surprises, including a new record for the most valuable barrel ever sold (excluding the Pièce des Présidents) with the Bâtard-Montrachet,” Guillaume Koch, director and chairman of the board of the Hospices Civils de Beaune, said in a statement.
Sotheby’s is also selling wine from the private collection of the late Jörg G. Bucherer in an online sale that ends on November 24. He passed away November 2023 at the age of 87 and his cellar includes an impressive array of coveted bottles, including ready-to-drink double magnums of Petrus, a rare case of Lafleur 1990, nine cases of Clos de Tart, and six full 12-bottle cases from Domaine Leroy.
