Cuvee Francois de Salins
⏳ Drinking Window
2025 - 2035
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Grilled lobster with butter, roasted veal chops with morel cream sauce, mature Comté cheese
✨ Technical Specifications
The Cuvée François de Salins is one of the most prestigious white wines offered at the historic Hospices de Beaune charity auction. Sourced from the legendary Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru hill—specifically from the highly prized, sun-drenched parcels of Le Charlemagne and Les Languettes—this wine honors François de Salins, a canon of the collegiate church of Notre-Dame de Beaune who generously bequeathed his valuable family vineyards to the Hospices in 1745. The high-altitude, light-colored limestone soils of the hill impart a profound mineral tension and structural power to the Chardonnay grapes. Meticulously vinified and aged in French oak casks, this Grand Cru showcases a majestic harmony of ripe citrus, white flowers, toasted hazelnut, and a flinty, saline finish that represents the absolute pinnacle of Burgundian white winemaking.
🍾 About the Producer
Established in 1443 by Nicolas Rolin, Chancellor to the Duke of Burgundy, and Guigone de Salins as the charitable Hôtel-Dieu hospital, the Domaine des Hospices de Beaune represents one of the most storied institutions in viticultural history. Comprising approximately 60 hectares amassed through centuries of philanthropic bequests, the domaine spans over a hundred individual parcels across the Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits, supplemented by small outposts in the Mâconnais and Chablis. Over 85% of its vineyards claim Premier or Grand Cru status, rooted predominantly in classic Jurassic limestone and marl soils. Chief winemaker Ludivine Griveau, the first female régisseur in the estate's history, completed the transition to full organic certification with the 2024 vintage. Vinified in Beaune before being offered as barrel lots during the historic annual November auction, benchmark red cuvées such as Nicolas Rolin and Guigone de Salins, alongside benchmark white expressions like François de Salins, display pure fruit expression, terroir transparency, and refined structural precision.
🍇 Grapes
Chardonnay
🍷 ABV
13-14%