Vintage Burgundy Wine Tasting Featuring the Wines of Hospice De Beaune back to 1952

Give me a taste of your fine, fine, wine.  Ruby Sticky, sweet as summertime.

Fine, Fine Wine - Motley Cru

If you have been paying attention to my propaganda over the years you know that Burgundy is one of my favorite wine regions of the world and when we recently acquired these old Hospice de Beaune wines from one of our cellar acquisitions I immediately set these old dogs aside for scientific evaluation. 

We had one of the greatest selections of vintage Burgundy in the world at incredible prices and now we are at the end of the bins for most of these perfectly stored wines from the 1950’s,1960’s and 1970’s but we are trying to drink as many until they are gone. 

We also included on this e-mail all the Burgundy in the store that is from the last century on SALE!!

The fee for this tasting which includes dinner is $350 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com. 

Vintage Burgundy Wine Tasting back to 1964

Featuring the Wines of Hospice De Beaune

Thursday, January 29, 2026

7:30 PM

2004 Bouchard Aine Hospices de Beaune Meursault-Genevrieres Cuvee Baudot 1er Cru (MAGNUM)

1952 Francois Martenot Chambolle Musigny Collection du Docteur Barolet

1964 Albert Bichot Volnay

1971 Bernard Grivelet Vosnee Romanee Les Malconsorts 1er Cru

1982 Domaine Trapet Pere et Fils Chambertin Grand Cru Cote de Nuits

2000 Hospices de Beaune Henri Boillot Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru 'Cuvee Madeleine Collignon'

2005 Bouchard Aine & Fils Hospices de Beaune Beaune Premier Cru Cuvee Rousseau Deslandes

2018 Hospices de Beaune Beaune 1er Cru Cuvee Guigone de Salins Cuvee Gup Maliner and Zuckerman

Menu

Selection of Cheese and Charcuterie

Lions Main Mushroom Carpaccio with Heirloom Tomato Tartar, Aged Balsamic and Fontodi Olive Oil Served with Whole Wheat Toast Points

Foie Gras Torchon with Brioche Toast and Garlic Mint Jam

Deconstructed Coq Au Vin

Puff Pastry with Tallegio Cheese and Strawberry Coulis

 The fee for this tasting which includes dinner is $350 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.  Please let us know when you make your reservations if you have any dietary restrictions and chefs Toni and Dani will be happy to accommodate you.

The Hôtel-Dieu was founded on 4 August 1443, at that time Burgundy was ruled by Duke Philip the Good.  The Hundred Years' War had recently ended by the signing of the Treaty of Arras in 1435. Massacres, however, continued with marauding bands (écorcheurs) still roaming the countryside, pillaging and destroying, provoking misery and famine.  Most of the people of Beaune were destitute, and the area had recently suffered an outbreak of plague.  Nicolas Rolin, the Duke's Chancellor, and his wife Guigone de Salins, responded by building a hospital and refuge for the poor.  He was given permission from Pope Eugene IV in 1441, the hospice was built and consecrated on December 31st 1452.

The building's design was most likely overseen by the Flemish architect Jacques Wiscrère.  There is a documentary record of a large range of Flemish and French masons, painters and glass cutters employed for its construction. The facade today is regarded as a superior example of Northern Renaissance civic architecture and a treasure trove of panel painting, given its numerous portraits of Rolin, his wife and members of his extended family.

The Hospices de Beaune consists of a pair of two-storied buildings arranged around a stone courtyard. The building wings are well-preserved today; they contain half-timber galleries and ornate rooftops with dormer windows. The hospital is arranged so that the wings served the office, kitchen and apothecary functions. The nuns and patients were housed nearer the chapel, towards the center of the complex.

The Hospices de Beaune received the first patient on 1 January 1452. Elderly, disabled and sick people, with orphans, women about to give birth and the destitute have all been uninterruptedly welcomed for treatment and refuge from the Middle Ages until today. This Catholic institution focused on healing both the body and spirit of its patients.

The charity auction been arranged annually since 1859, taking place on the third Sunday in November amid a three-day festival devoted to the food and wines of Burgundy called Les Trois Glorieuses.  The charity is preceded by a black tie dinner at the Clos de Vougeot on day one and followed by the lunch La Paulée de Meursault on day three

Over the centuries, the hospital radiated outwards, grouping with similar establishments in the surrounding villages of Pommard, Nolay, Meursault. Many donations - farms, property, woods, works of art and of course vineyards - were made to it, by grateful families and generous benefactors. The institution is one of the best and oldest examples of historical, philanthropic, and wine-producing heritage, and has become linked with the economic and cultural life of Burgundy.

Today the Domaine des Hospices de Beaune covers 60 hectares, A large majority of these vineyards (50 hectares) are planted with Pinot Noir for the production of red wines (appellations: Beaune, Pommard, Volnay, Corton, Savigny, Auxey-Duresses, Santenay, Pernand-Vergelesses, Echezeaux, Mazis-Chambertin, Clos de La Roche). 10 hectares are planted with Chardonnay for the white wines (appellations: Chablis, Meursault, Pouilly-Fuissé, Corton Charlemagne, Puligny-Montrachet, Bâtard-Montrachet).

An obvious indicator of their quality is the fact that 85% of the Domaine des Hospices vines are classified as premiers crus and grands crus. The remaining 15% are classified as ’appellation village’. For many years now, the Domaine’s vineyards have been cultivated taking a sustainable, environmentally-friendly approach (no chemical inputs), and even according to organic principles when the conditions over the year allow it, as they did in 2018.

The Domaine des Hospices’ vineyard plots are mainly located in and around the Beaune area (in the villages of Aloxe-Corton, Auxey-Duresses, Savigny, Beaune, Monthélie, Pommard, Volnay, Meursault and Santenay), near the Hôtel-Dieu and its winery built in 1995. The Hospices de Beaune also own vineyards in the prestigious Côte de Nuits, the kingdom of the great red wines made from the delicate Pinot Noir grape variety, with the grands crus of Mazis-Chambertin, Echezeaux and Clos de la Roche. A few plots located further away, in Chablis to the north of Burgundy and Pouilly-Fuissé in the Mâconnais region, complete the Domaine des Hospices de Beaune’s vineyard holdings.       

The 2018 vintage was notable for having the hottest, driest growing seasons since the intense heatwave of 2003. Despite a wet winter and spring, perfect weather arrived in time for an early but very successful flowering. The summer was hot and exceedingly dry although Nuits St Georges did see some vicious hail which impacted yields. The ideal weather conditions during late August and September meant producers could pick at their own leisure which put the vintage in very good stead. The resulting harvest was one of the largest in years, particularly for Chardonnay.

The heat was problematic in that it did create unusually high sugar content and, therefore, alcohol in the grapes which did in some instances cause an issue with stuck fermentations.

The whites tend to be rich and surprisingly fresh, despite most having higher alcohol than normal. The majority are best drunk young but some have the makings to age very well.

The reds also produced a range of wines suitable for both early drinking and laying down. The intense heat did cause some grapes to overripen, particularly Pinot Noir. Like the whites, the reds were very alcoholic, which sometimes made retaining acidity difficult causing a few producers to use acidification to bolster the wines. However, despite many of the wines having a rich "sun-ripened", as some have reported, taste profile, an element of freshness was still retained making for mostly complex, pleasing wines with good potential to age.