A wine auction is an auction

Auction

An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder...

 devoted to wine

Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...

, sometimes in combination with other alcoholic beverage

Alcoholic beverage

An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...

s. There are two basic types of wine auctions: first hand wine auctions, where wineries

Winery

A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, bottling lines, laboratories, and large expanses of...

 sell their own wines, and second hand

Second Hand

Second Hand is the title of an album by Mark Heard, released in 1991, on Heard's own Fingerprint Records. The album was listed at #4 in the book CCM Presents: The 100 Greatest Albums in Christian Music ....

 wine auctions, arranged by auction houses or other auctioneers to make it possible for any owners of wine to trade it. In most cases, the wines traded at wine auctions are collectible wine, so-called "fine wine". These are wines which are typically suitable for extended cellaring, and where some of the buyers are looking for mature wines which are no longer available through first-hand retail channels.

First hand auctions

First hand wine auctions are usually arranged by wine industry organisations, and fill promotional or charitable purposes, or are used to gauge the market. The wines sold at such auctions are usually special lot wines, or back vintages stored by the producers. An example of such auctions is the annual wine auction held by Hospices de Beaune

Hospices de Beaune

The Hospices de Beaune or Hôtel-Dieu de Beaune is a former charitable almshouse in Beaune, France. It was founded in 1443 by Nicolas Rolin, chancellor of Burgundy, as a hospital for the poor and needy. The original hospital building, the Hôtel-Dieu, one of the finest examples of French...

 in Burgundy

Burgundy wine

Burgundy wine is wine made in the Burgundy region in eastern France, in the valleys and slopes west of the Saône River, a tributary of the Rhône. The most famous wines produced here - those commonly referred to as "Burgundies" - are red wines made from Pinot Noir grapes or white wines made from...

, where Burgundy wines from vineyards donated to the Hospices de Beaune are auctioned off by the barrel, and often bought by négociant

Négociant

A négociant is the French term for a wine merchant who assembles the produce of smaller growers and winemakers and sells the result under its own name....

s who bottle and sell the wines to the consumer market. Another example are the German wine auctions

German wine auctions

A number of German wine auctions are held each year, where the premier German wine producers auction off some of the best young wines, as well as some older wines. Most auctions are arranged by the regional associations of Verband Deutscher Prädikats- und Qualitätsweingüter...

 where mostly special lot wines are sold, and are bought by a combination of private wine collectors and wine dealers.

Second hand auctions

Second hand wine auctions are arranged by many major auction houses, such as Christie's

Christie's

Christie's is an art business and a fine arts auction house.- History :The official company literature states that founder James Christie conducted the first sale in London, England, on 5 December 1766, and the earliest auction catalogue the company retains is from December 1766...

 and Sotheby's

Sotheby's

Sotheby's is the world's fourth oldest auction house in continuous operation.-History:The oldest auction house in operation is the Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674, the second oldest is Göteborgs Auktionsverk founded in 1681 and third oldest being founded in 1731, all Swedish...

. Prices for many wines at these auctions are used as a price indication for collectible wine when traded through other channels, such as First Growth

First Growth

First Growth status refers to a classification of wines primarily from the Bordeaux region of France.-Bordeaux reds:The need for a classification of the best Bordeaux wines arose for the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris. The result was the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855, a list...

 Bordeaux wine

Bordeaux wine

A Bordeaux wine is any wine produced in the Bordeaux region of France. Average vintages produce over 700 million bottles of Bordeaux wine, ranging from large quantities of everyday table wine, to some of the most expensive and prestigious wines in the world...

s sold by rare wine dealers, or when négociants sell mature wines from their stock to restaurants.