BEAUNE.- Yesterday, at the historic Hospices de Beaune wine sale in Burgundy, leading names Dominic West, Eva Longoria, Jean Reno and Zabou Breitman took to the rostrum to rally a 700-strong crowd to up ever further their bids for a unique barrel of exceptional wine, produced from a special plot and sold to benefit Médecins Sans Frontières and Global Gift Foundation of America.

Having reached €360,000, the barrel was acquired by Alaor Pereira Lino of Anima Vinum of Brazil. But the excitement did not stop there. In a surprise twist, a member of the audience raised her hand once the hammer had fallen, pledging a further €100,000 to the causes championed by the sale of the barrel.

Joining the auctioneers on the rostrum, Francine Picard, of Domaines Famille Picard (a vineyard in Chassagne-Montrachet in Burgundy), explained that, though she had been attending the auction for years, “For the first time ever, this year I attended the press conference on the morning of the sale and I felt so moved when I saw the video for the Global Gift Foundation and the children affected by circumstances outside of their control. I feel fortunate to have the life I lead so I felt compelled to help the young who don’t ask for anything with a gesture of support.”

Her personal contribution took the total raised for charity this year to €460,000 – an increase of over 30% on the price achieved last year.*

Having participated in the Hospices de Beaune wine sales for some twenty-five years, Mr. Pereira Lino, owner of a leading wine company in Brazil, is an ambassador of Burgundy wines in his native country, where he has created an entire museum dedicated to the Hospices de Beaune – the only place in the world where a complete archive of its wines can be found.

With Médecins Sans Frontières allocating the funds for a highly innovative project to combat dengue fever in Honduras, Mr. Pereira Lino said: “This cause is particularly close to my heart as a Brazilian. Unfortunately, we are all too familiar with this scourge, so I was naturally delighted to make my contribution to this Médecins Sans Frontières project.”

The ‘Pièce de Charité’ was the centrepiece of the 164th iteration of the legendary Hospices de Beaune sale – the world’s oldest charity auction. This year was a very special year in the long history of the Hospices as it marked the first time the estate had presented fully certified organic wines – a fitting tribute to the Hospices Civils de Beaune’s ‘One Health’ mission to place health and the environment at the heart of all it does. The wine specifically chosen for the charity barrel, ‘Beaune 1er Cru, Les Bressandes’, was produced from a single plot within the estate usually selected for four other cuvées (Nicolas Rolin, Guigone de Salins, Dames Hospitalières and Brunet).

Appreciation for the wines and trailblazing achievements of the Hospices de Beaune was manifest throughout the day, with a record number of registrants ahead of the sale and participants from 32 countries, an almost 40% increase on the sale in 2023. The 449-lot auction brought an overall total of €14,404,200 / $15,183,722 (an aggregate total of €15.5m / $16.3m).**

Presiding over the sale was Aurélie Vandevoorde and Pierre Mothes from Sotheby’s, who have had the privilege of supporting the Hospices de Beaune for the past four years.

Marie-Anne Ginoux, Managing Director, Sotheby’s France, said: “This year’s sale has been exceptional for many reasons, not least the challenges faced by Ludivine Griveau and her team in producing the first fully certified organic vintage but also for the very deserving associations and their committed ambassadors. Our mission in supporting the Hospices de Beaune is to spread the word far and wide about what makes these wines so special, and the charitable causes that are at the heart of the sale. We took the wines all over the world and our efforts have been much appreciated by local audiences, many of whom participated in the sale, with bids coming in from Europe, Asia, the Americas and the Middle East. We feel it is important for collectors to discover the uniqueness of these wines and the pleasure they bring, and it is our passion to instill that confidence in them about their potential for the future.”

Guillaume Koch, Director and Chairman of the Board of Hospices Civils de Beaune, said: “We're very pleased with the results of the sale. It's a reward for all the hard work we've put in over the last year, which has been a complex one due to the vagaries of nature, and our first year of organic production. The whites played a particularly important role, with new record prices such as the Bâtard-Montrachet at €355,000. We also had a number of high-quality, highly committed ambassadors who helped to enliven the sale and the weekend.”

Célian Ravel d’Estienne, Head of Wine Auction Sales, Sotheby’s France, said: “Speaking on behalf of myself and our global wine team, we feel very passionate about working with the Hospices and championing both the cause and their wines. This year, we were able to build a successful sale with the wonderful wines from Ludivine despite the climatic challenges faced by the whole Burgundy region, resulting in much lower volumes than the two previous vintages.”

Make-up of this Year’s Selection of Wines

A total of 51 cuvées, divided into 33 red wines, 18 white wines and two cuvées of eaux-de-vie, were on offer, comprising 321 barrels of red wines and 118.5 barrels (117 plus three half barrels) of white wines, seven barrels of eaux-de-vie, and the Presidents’ Barrel - 447.5 barrels in total. The average hammer price per barrel of the red and white wines was €31,540, a small increase on last year.

The results were also led by three barrels of Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru, Cuvée Dames de Flandres, which sold for €355,000 each and achieved a new record for a barrel of this exceptional white Grand Cru cuvée.

Charitable Use of the Sale Proceeds & ‘One Health’

Separate from the Presidents’ Barrel which is generously donated by the hospital to a cause chosen for its relevance to the particular theme of the year, each year proceeds from the auction are used to fund the Hospices Civils de Beaune’s hospital programme.

Funds raised from the 164th sale will finance the Hospices Civils de Beaune’s major investment programme in new buildings and cutting-edge equipment, in order to continue making progress in improving healthcare for the 110,000 people living in the southern Côte d'Or. 2024 saw the launch of preparatory work for the construction of a new 15,000 square metre building on the Beaune site that will replace the first building of the modern era of the Hospices, which dates from 1971.

Earlier this year, the Hospices Civils de Beaune pledged its commitment to ‘One Health’, an integrated approach that aims to protect the health of people and ecosystems - a fitting theme given that the institution had already begun to place the relationship between health and the environment at the heart of its operations, culminating with the complete conversion to organic methods in the vineyards. Yesterday’s sale results were testament to the exceptional work carried out by estate manager Ludivine Griveau and her team over the past ten vintages since she joined as chief winemaker in 2015.

This Year’s Charities of Choice Benefitting from the Sale of the Presidents’ Barrel

Represented at the auction by actors Dominic West and Zabou Breitman, Médecins Sans Frontières - the international medical humanitarian association founded in 1971 by doctors and journalists to provide medical assistance to people whose health or lives are threatened in France or abroad - has chosen to allocate the funds to its fight against neglected tropical diseases, debilitating and fatal diseases with complex epidemiology, which mainly affect poor populations in rural tropical areas.

Represented at the sale by actors Eva Longoria and Jean Reno, Global Gift Foundation - a humanitarian non-profit organisation founded in 2013 by the Spanish actress, businesswoman and philanthropist, María Bravo, with the aim of creating a positive impact on the lives of children, women and families, who are in a situation of vulnerability and / or at risk of social exclusion - has chosen to allocate the funds to Casa Ángeles, a day centre located in the city of Marbella created with the aim of improving the quality of life of children with special needs and their families.

The Hospices de Beaune Wine Sale

Representing the pinnacle of the calendar in Burgundy, the annual Hospices de Beaune wine sale has become not only the world’s most famous wine auction but also a vastly important cultural phenomenon in the region. The sale is the centrepiece of a three day weekend in November known as ‘Les Trois Glorieuses’ when wine lovers descend on the town of Beaune for the opportunity to acquire barrels of wine produced from vineyards covering 140 plots across the Hospices’ 60-hectare holdings. Every year since 1945, during the auction, a special barrel called the Presidents’ Barrel is sold separately for the benefit of one or more charities of the Hospices de Beaune’s choosing.

*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 overall total of €14.4m includes the €460,000 raised by the ‘President’s Barrel’, the only lot in the sale to exclude buyer’s premium fees. The hammer total excluding the ‘Presidents’ Barrel’ was €13,944,200.