At a glance
- When? Sunday 15 November 2026 at 2.30 pm, under the Halles de Beaune, with Sotheby’s.
- Catalogue: 450 lots, including 432 barrels and 2 half-barrels of 2026 wine.
- Presidents’ barrel: a Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru for the first time, sold for ARSLA and DEBRA France.
- Presidents: Mélanie Doutey and the comedy duo Éric Judor and Ramzy Bedia.
- Top estimate: 200,000 to 260,000 euros for a barrel of Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru.
- 2025 benchmark: 20.2 million euros including fees.
On the third Sunday of November, Beaune auctions the wines of its hospital. The 166th sale, on 15 November 2026, will offer 450 lots and, for the first time, a Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru as the presidents’ barrel, sold to fight rare diseases. On 6 November the Hospices de Beaune announced who would preside over the sale: Mélanie Doutey, Éric Judor and Ramzy Bedia.
Sunday 15 November, 2.30 pm, under the Halles
The sale will take place on Sunday 15 November 2026 at 2.30 pm under the Halles de Beaune. Sotheby’s has run it since 2021 and has extended its partnership with the Hospices Civils de Beaune for five years. The weekend will open on Friday 13 with the Fête des Grands Vins de Bourgogne; on Saturday 14, Ludivine Griveau, manager of the wine estate, will present the vintage.
American buyers will be able to bid live from an immersive room at Sotheby’s new New York headquarters, the Breuer Building. According to Marie-Anne Ginoux, managing director of Sotheby’s France, collectors from Japan and Taiwan have already booked their seats in Beaune. The Hospices describe the sale, held since 1859, as the oldest charity wine auction in the world.
432 barrels and 2 half-barrels in the catalogue
The Sotheby’s catalogue lists 450 lots. The estate is offering 432 barrels and 2 feuillettes (half-barrels) of wine: 348 barrels of red, 84 barrels and 2 feuillettes of white. They are joined by the presidents’ barrel and, at the end of the sale, lots of eaux-de-vie, marc and fine de Bourgogne. A barrel (pièce) holds 228 litres, a feuillette 114.
Sotheby’s estimates exclude fees. The barrel of Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru, Cuvée Dames de Flandres, is estimated at 200,000 to 260,000 euros (lot 209), the feuillette at 100,000 to 130,000 euros (lot 210). The barrels of Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru, Cuvée Madeleine Collignon, are estimated at 90,000 to 130,000 euros each. Another sale of fine Burgundy will be held online this month: 465 bottles of Coche-Dury.
A Clos de Vougeot as the presidents’ barrel
The presidents’ barrel is the charity lot of the sale: its proceeds go to a cause, not to the hospital. In 2026 it is a Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru for the first time, the Cuvée François Faiveley, in gratitude for the Faiveley family’s gift of this plot in 2025, which became the estate’s 52nd cuvée. Lot 174 in the catalogue, it is estimated on request.
The wine was fermented in an open 500-litre vat, with 70% sorted whole bunches. It is aged in a Taransaud cask made from oak from the Moladier forest, in the Allier.
Who will preside over the 2026 Hospices sale?
Mélanie Doutey, Éric Judor and Ramzy Bedia will lead the sale of the presidents’ barrel alongside the auctioneer. Éric and Ramzy are patrons of ARSLA, the French association for research on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Charcot’s disease, founded in 1985 and recognised as a public-interest body since 1991. Mélanie Doutey supports DEBRA France, which helps people with epidermolysis bullosa, a rare genetic skin disease known as the “butterfly children” disease; about 3,000 people are affected in France.
2026 vintage: early and small in volume
Drought and heatwaves marked the year. The estate harvested from 15 to 24 August, in nine days, the earliest start in its history. The vintage report notes three official heatwaves and yields of about half the norm for whites and 60 to 70% for Pinot Noir. For context, read our article on the 2026 harvest in Burgundy.
Apart from the presidents’ barrel, the proceeds fund the Beaune hospital. According to Pierre Bolze, mayor of Beaune and chairman of the Hospices supervisory board, this year they will support the rebuilding of the inpatient building, with the move scheduled for the end of 2027.
20.2 million euros in 2025: the benchmark
On 16 November 2025, the 165th sale totalled 18,754,670 euros at the hammer and 20,223,043 euros including buyer’s fees, for 552 lots. The presidents’ barrel, a Pommard Premier Cru Les Rugiens, sold for 400,000 euros, the only lot of the sale without buyer’s fees. To put these sums in perspective, see the price of the 1945 Romanée-Conti and our ranking of the world’s most expensive wines.
| Date | 15 November 2026, 2.30 pm |
| Venue | Halles de Beaune |
| Auction house | Sotheby’s |
| Lots | 450, including 432 barrels and 2 half-barrels of wine |
| Presidents’ barrel | Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru, Cuvée François Faiveley |
| Charities | ARSLA and DEBRA France |
| Presidents | Mélanie Doutey, Éric Judor and Ramzy Bedia |
| Top estimate | Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru: 200,000 to 260,000 euros, excluding fees |
| 2025 benchmark | 20,223,043 euros including fees |
Information checked on 10 November 2026. Sources: Hospices press release of 6 November 2026, press release of 22 October 2026, press release of 4 September 2026, Sotheby’s estimates, Sotheby’s catalogue, vintage report, 2025 results.
