Hospices de Beaune Wine Auction 2026: What It Is and How It Works

The Hospices de Beaune sale is Burgundy’s great charity wine auction. The 166th takes place on Sunday 15 November 2026 at 2:30 pm. Here is what is sold, how the sale runs and what surrounds it.

What is sold

The wine is sold young, just after the harvest, and by the barrel. The barrel is called a pièce: 228 litres, about 300 bottles. The buyer collects it and brings it on.

The cuvées

About fifty cuvées are offered, from the vineyards of the Hospices, a domain of 60 hectares of Premier Cru and Grand Cru parcels in the Côte de Beaune.

How the sale runs

The sale begins at 2:30 pm and is run by Sotheby’s. The lots come one after another, barrel by barrel, to the highest bid. Bids are placed in the room, by telephone, online or in writing.

The candle

One barrel is sold differently: the charity barrel, sold by candle. Bidding continues while the candle burns and closes as the flame goes out. This year the barrel is dedicated to research on rare diseases.

Where the money goes

The proceeds go to the hospital: its equipment and buildings. The Hospices currently support the completion of a new hospital building, due in 2028, and a computerised patient record system.

The weekend

The sale is the centre of a weekend. From Friday 13 to Sunday 15 November the town fills with the Festivinales, with music, crafts and tastings, and the cellars and estates of Beaune and the villages around open for tastings. The wider celebration is known as Les Trois Glorieuses: the chapter of the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin at Clos de Vougeot, the Hospices de Beaune sale, and the Paulée de Meursault on Monday 16 November. Beaujolais Nouveau follows on Thursday 19 November.

What we arrange

A hotel in or near Beaune, a private driver for the weekend, and cellar tastings and estates before and after the sale. The date is fixed, so rooms come first. Through us: partner rates on the hotel, with perks that depend on the property, and the same advisor from your first message until you fly home. Our Burgundy wine guide sets out the seasons and a place to stay on the Grand Cru route.

If you tell us the dates and who is travelling, we will come back with the hotel, the car and the days around the sale.

Photo credits

• Tomas er / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
• Mpmpmp / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
• Benjamin Smith / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
• Benjamin Smith / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
• Elliott Brown from Birmingham, United Kingdom / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
• Florian Pépellin / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0