THE
WINE AUCTION
The Hospices de Beaune Wine Sale is the heart of a truly
"Rabelaisian" festival in Burgundy. It is surrounded by all sorts of events :
presentation of all the wines of Burgundy and equipment for the wine industry,
tastings....
It is part of what we know as :" LES TROIS GLORIEUSES DE BOURGOGNE" preceded,
the day before by a chapter of the Brotherhood of the Chevaliers du Tastevin in the Chateau of The Clos
du Vougeot and followed, the next day by La Paulée in Meursault.
This auction is the most famous of all the Burgundian
festivals and forms the greatest charity sale in the world.
It dates back to 1859, the year in which 189 barrels of wine were sold. The total revenue
being 19247.50 Francs.
Since 1924 the auction has been fixed unalterably on the third Sunday of November and has
become an annual gathering of wine professionals.
At the end of the vinification period, the management of
The Hospices decides the quantity of wine which will be sold at auction. Each vintage or
cuvée is divided into different sized lots according to the abundance of the grape
harvest.
The price tendency shown by the bidding gives an indication of the general price movements
for Burgundy wines.
Due to the charitable setting, however, the prices of the Grands Crus and Premiers Crus
generally surpass the usual prices by a large margin.
The auction takes place on the Sunday afternoon in the covered market and proceeds every
year under the presidency of a guest personality. The Mayor of Beaune, the administrators
and the Director of the Hospices sit at the official tribune.. |
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Since 1931, the sale of the Hospice wines
is directed by an auctioneer-commissioner.
The old and picturesque tradition of bidding using candles has been preserved.
The bids are received whilst the two candles are burning and cannot be below 1000 F. In
fact, the more or less brief duration of the flame is controlled by the
auctioneer-commissioner according to the bids and only partially influences the sale : it
is mostly a gesture of maintaining tradition.
The vintages are put up for sale one by one in the order shown in the catalogue.
During the sale the names of the buyers, merchants, restaurant owners and private
individuals from the four corners of the world are written down on the proceedings, which
will be edited later in the form of a catalogue giving the results of the sale.
All of the wines bought at this auction must obligatorily be put into traditional Burgundy
bottles which will receive the labels provided by the Administration of the Hospices.
The name of the vintage and the year will be shown on these tickets, to which the buyer
will add his own name and
address.
The auction finishes with a great candlelit dinner in the
medieval surroundings of the stronghold of the Hôtel-Dieu. |
