First run in 1938, the 65th Hospices de Nuits-Saint-Georges wine auction, on Sunday, raised €1,526,000 for the Hospices Civils de Beaune charity.

Despite lower prices for the reds, this total marks a 91.7% increase from last year’s total of €860,000 – no surprise given the paucity of wine from Nuits in 2024 – just 36 barrels were produced by the domaine in that year.

The auction sold 80.5 barrels (79 standard 228-litre barrels and one half-barrel – 79 of which were red and 1.5 were white) from the 2025 vintage. This 2025 volume remains below the historical average production by the Hospices, which is usually in the region of 100 to 150 barrels.

The bidding reflected the current market sentiment towards burgundy wines: The reds are still coveted but not to the extent of recent vintages – the barrel prices were down a little but sold easily. The reverse was the case for whites. Although there’s very little white wine in this auction (no surprise as Nuits has only about 5% white) the bidding was much more competitive and resulted in record barrel prices for whites – about one-third higher than last year and the average barrel price was double that of the reds !!

The event marked the passing of the baton from retiring technical director Jean-Marc Moron to Laurence Danel – Jean-Marc having been responsible for the last 36 vintages here.

Sunday, November 17^th saw the 164^th 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 164^th 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.

*The 449 lots on offer comprised 441 barrels of red and white wines, 1 Presidents’ Barrel, and 7 barrels of spirits.

Yesterday saw the sale of the 163rd edition of the Hospices de Beaune wine auction – the oldest charity wine auction – which delivered a total of €25.1 million including all the auction fees.

As last year, the previously covid-hit editions of the sale were forgotten as an audience 700 people, including the bidders, packed into the sales room in Beaune. Last year there was interest from 30 different countries – this year a mere 24 – but the sale still endured for 7 hours as three auctioneers worked in shifts to get through the 770 lots.

Whilst the headline is ‘only’ for the second most important total achieved, we should note that there was a modest 32 fewer barrels sold in 2023 – a small surprise when you consider that the average domaine made more wine in 2023 than in 2022 – but the triage of the Hospices was far from modest in 2023 and the wines will only benefit from that. Still, the average price per barrel (see the table below) was down about 15% vs last year making it only the third highest total – though nearly 50% higher than in 2020. The result of two consecutive ‘almost full’ vintages? Let’s hope so. Whilst this is, of course, a charity auction, another 15% lower next year would be a good indication to the market as the Hospices has long been considered the bellwether of burgundy’s market pricing – though that connection has been tenuous for a while!

2023 Pièce des Présidents
The Pièce des Présidents (Presidents’ Barrel), sold for €350,000 (before commission) to the owner of Château de Couches whose château is known as “Margaret of Burgundy.” The contents of this year’s barrel was part of the Hospice’s Mazis-Chambertin, Cuvée Madeleine Collignon – donated to the Hospices in 1976 by Jean Collignon, which was subsequently named in memory of his mother. As noted in previous entries before the sale, the barrel was made from the wood of an oak tree which was also used to restore the spire of Notre Dame in Paris and the barrel itself was made by the Tonnellerie Cadus.

A few stats

The hammer total for the 163rd Hospices de Beaune wine sale was €23,279,800 including the Pièce des Présidents. The vintage 21 and 22 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.

*The 770 lots on offer comprised 753 barrels of red and white wines, 1 Presidents’ Barrel, and 16 barrels of spirits.