Hospices de Beaune

The Hôtel-Dieu hospital was founded in Beaune in 1443 by the Nicolas Rolin, Chancellor under Burgundy's ruler Duke Philip the Good, as a solution to the great poverty and sickness created in the afternmath of the Hundred Years War. Out of the Hôtel-Dieu a group of carers formed called the Hospices de Beaune. Today the proceeds from their annual auction in November of young wines in barrel are entirely used for the modernisation of medical equipment in the new hospital, created in 1971, as well as other charitable projects in Beaune that provide care and shelter to the poor. The Hospices is proprietor of over 61 ha in some of Burgundy's most prestigious vineyards, donated over the years by benevolent winegrowers. They have their own vineyard and winemaking team, comprising 23 different growers, headed up by Roland Masse, formerly winemaker at Domaine Bertagna.