Sunday, November 17th saw the 164th edition of the Hospices de Beaune wine sale – the oldest charity wine auction – again under the auspices of Sotheby’s plus a cadre of national and international actors as cheerleaders for the sale. It delivered an overall total of €14.4m which includes the €460,000 raised by the ‘President’s Barrel’, this is the only lot in the sale that excludes a buyer’s premium fees. When including buyers’ fees, the total was €15.2 million.
Without looking into the details of the sale, the total amount achieved by the sale was much lower than other previous vintages. It is, however, important to note that this was due to the challenges of the vintage producing one of the smallest crops in recent years – only 2021 was lower, see the table to compare below – just 449 barrels being offered in the sale. The average price of the reds did fall by around 5% but the price of the whites increased by 8%. This resulted in the 3rd highest average barrel price.
2024 Pièce des Présidents
The record price for a ‘Presidents’ Barrel’ was set in 2022 at €810,000, for a barrel of Corton Grand Cru. In 2023, the ‘Presidents’ Barrel’ – a Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru – sold for €350,000. This year the barrel contained a 2024 Beaune 1er Les Bressandes – and didn’t it do well – €360,000 plus a further donation from another bidder of €100,000 to support the twin charities* that were championed by its sale. This taking the final result to €460,000 !!
*Médecins Sans Frontières and the Global Gift Foundation
A few stats
The hammer total for the 164th Hospices de Beaune wine sale was €14,404,200 including the Pièce des Présidents. So how does this sale compare? Since the vintage 2021, the totals (Sotheby’s) also include the President’s barrel – the earlier years’ values (Christie’s) are stated without including the President’s barrel. All the figures are ‘net,’ so without the respective auctioneers’ commissions.
| Vintage | Sale Total € millions | Price per barrel | Number of barrels |
| 2005 | €3.79 million | €4,803 | 789 |
| 2009 | €4.99 million | €6,250 | 799 |
| 2015 | €11.3 million | €18,880 | 575 |
| 2016 | €8.4 million | €13,833 | 596 |
| 2017 | €13.5 million | €16,657 | 787 |
| 2018 | €13.95 million | €16,850 | 828 |
| 2019 | €12.28 million | €21,823 | 589 |
| 2020 | €12.76 million | €21,677 | 630 |
| 2021 | €11.68 million | €33,223 | 352 |
| 2022 | €29.79 million | €35,974 | 802 |
| 2023 | €23.28 million | €30,233 | 770 |
| 2024 | €14.404 million | €32,080 | 449* |
*The 449 lots on offer comprised 441 barrels of red and white wines, 1 Presidents’ Barrel, and 7 barrels of spirits.