Come and stay and be part of the famous Hospice de Beaune wine auction
Well, now you can. Come be a part of Burgundy tradition at the Domaine de Cromey and let Elden Selections make your dream come true.
Come visit us at the Domaine de Cromey and take part in this famous auction, or Shop Hospices Wines now.
How to participate:
There are a number of ways you can participate in the auction. First, you can come and stay at the Domaine de Cromey and attend the auction in person accompanied by Dennis, where all the arrangements are taken care of by the team here at the Cromey.
If you can't come you can still buy a barrel. We often buy several barrels and we would be delighted to include yours. Dennis attends the vast pre auction tasting event, typically bringing with him a wine expert and providing you with feedback on wines of interest.
You can also participate by joining one of our Barrel consortiums. Here, we buy a barrel on behalf of a Consortium, usually 5 or 6 members, and you buy a share of the barrel, typically four cases. In our recent history the wine has typically doubled in value by the time our clients received it. Working with one of our winemakers we take care of raising the wine over about 15 to 18 months after the auction. We bottle, label and ship it to you.
You can also sign up for one case. You'll get the benefit of owning a really special case of wine, buying it 'en primeur'*
*En primeur or "wine futures", is a method of purchasing wines early while the wine is still in the barrel. This offers the opportunity to invest before the wine is bottled. Payment is made at the start, a year or 18 months prior to the official release of the vintage, bottling, labeling and shipping.
A little history...
When in 1443 Nicolas Rolin, Chancellor to Phillipe Le Bon, Duke of Burgundy, with his wife Guigone de Salins founded the Hospices de Beaune to care for the ill and poor, this was, perhaps, the first example of philanthropic care anywhere.
But despite the generosity of the Dukes, over the centuries outside funding became necessary. This often came about in the form of legacies and gifts of land, buildings and, of course, vineyards. Over the centuries numerous donations have made the Hospices one of the most important vineyard owners in Burgundy.
The wines made from these lands are sold every year at the most famous charity wine auction in the world. Each year, wine professionals and connoisseurs gather in Beaune on the weekend of the third Sunday in November for the purest of Burgundian traditions.
Proceeds from the sale are used to fund Beaune’s General Hospital and support the ongoing preservation of the Hospices building, now classified as a national monument.
The Hospices de Beaune Charity Wine Auction is the highlight of the Burgundy year. It is the centerpiece of the “Three Glorious Days” (Les Trois Glorieuses). Saturday is La Fête in Beaune with a street market, tasting at most of the town’s wine houses, and an invitation-only dinner at Chateau de Clos du Vougeot, home to the world-famous Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin. Sunday afternoon sees the wine auction and the weekend concludes with a winegrower and guests lunch (paulée) in Meursault.
For years we had dreamed of buying a barrel at the annual event. In 2013 we did, and since then Elden has been a regular buyer. And now that we have lived our dream, we want to make it come true for you.
Let us organize your participation at the auction. We’ll join in the pre-auction street fun in Beaune, taste with the professionals at the Hospices ‘cuverie’, live the thrill of the moment in the auction hall, and of course buy a barrel or two. And then we’ll party! We now throw our own annual Paulee banquet the day after the auction for guests and winemakers in the cellars at Cromey.
There is no experience more Burgundian! So please get in touch about staying at Domaine de Cromey, buying a barrel at the auction or buying a share of a barrel.