Burgundy

Bourgogne, or Burgundy, is one of the really great and largest wine-growing regions in France, stretching in the east from the Jura, the Paris Basin (Champagne) and the central plateau, over a lenth of almost 300 kilometres. The official capital of the region, which covers an area of 32.000 square kilometres, is Dijon, but the undisputed wine capital is Beaune. Burgundy is one of the oldest wine-growing regions in France. As is the case in other French regions, viticulture was originally influenced by the Greeks. They delivered wine and objects of art to the Celts, or Gauls, who lived here. The famous crater of Vix, a mixing jug found in the grave of a Celtic princess, and dated from the 6th century BC, provides evidence of the trade between the two nations. The first documents relating to viticulture are dated from 312 AD, in a letter to emperor Constantine (288-337). The later bishop Gregory of Tours (538-594), who was descended from a family of Roman senators, wrote in his history of the Franks, towards the end of the 6th century AD, that a noble wine was grown in the hills to the west of Dijon, which could be compared to Falernian wine. Charlemagne (742-814) owned a vineyard here, which is still in existence today in the commune of Aloxe-Corton. As of 879, Burgundy consisted of two kingdoms, and was an independent duchy from 947 to 1493. The overriding importance of the Catholic church for French and European viticulture is inseperably bound to the Cistercian order. This order was founded by Robert de Molesme in 1308 in the abbey of Cîteaux. In 1308, Avignon also became the residence in exile of the popes. They delighted in the pelasures of „Beaune wine” and pope Urban V. (1310-1370) issued a decree in 1364, thretening the abbot of Cîteaux with excommunication if he were to send even one drop of Beaune wine to Rome.

Under duke Philipp the Good of Burgundy (1396-1467) the famous Hospices de Beaune were founded in 1443, their income is derived from a vineyard, and this income has been applied to the care of the sick and elderly for the past 600 years. It is reputed that the duke himself selected a variant of the Noirien grape (original predecessor of Pinot Noir), and prescribed it as the only permitted grape variety for the region. In addition, he issued laws which already stipulated a type of controlled designation of origin (Appellation Contrôlée) for Burgundy. At this time, wine from Beaune was among the most famous in the world. The priest Claude Arnoux (1695-1770) published a book in 1728 entitled „La Situation de la Bourgogne”, in which he described the Burgundian wines of the time, and their method of production. The history of Burgundian viticulture shows many ups and downs over the next few centuries. In the 1930’s, a series of failed vintages caused a huge crisis in Burgundy, forcing many large property owners to sell their vineyards. For this reason, two Burgundian partiots in 1934 founded the famous wine brotherhood Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin, in order to preserve and promote the tradition and quality of Burgundy wine. The Burgundy region is divided into five districts (Bourgogne is a comprehensive regional appellation designation):

* Beaujolais with 22.500 ha
* Bourgogne
* Chablis with 4.300 ha
* CĂ´te Chalonnaise with 2.000 ha
* Côte d´Or with 4.600 ha (Côte de Beaune 3.000 , Côte de Nuits 1.600)
* Mâconnais with 5.400 ha

More than 10.000 grape growers work the roughly 40.000 hectares of vineyard area. Most of them only own a hectare or two, and for this reason Burgundy is also known as the „Land of smallholding owners”. The soils consist mostly of a combination of limestone and decomposed mar. Because of the drastically differing weather conditions in the individual appellations, the vienyard sites are known as „Climat” in Burgundy. The large estates are not known as „Château”, as in Bordeaux, but are usually referred to as „Domaine”. The is a unified and generally applicable classification system (see under Burgundy classification) for all 200 appellations. Aroun 75% of all wines produced are white, the remaining 25% are red or rosé wines. A major difference in comparison with Bordeaux is that wines are generally made from a single dominant grape variety. For the white wines, the dominant variety is Chardonnay, and for the red wines it is Pinot Noir, respectively Gamay for Beaujolais. The best red wines are grown in the Côte de Nuits region (Cote d´Or); for instance in the communes of Chambolle-Musigny, Gevrey-Chambertin and Vosne-Romanée. The Domaine de la Romanée-Conti estate is one of the most famous in the world, and produces truly great red wines. The outstanding white wines, which are counted among the best in the world, come from areas such as Chablis, Aloxe-Corton, Meursault, Chassagne-Montrachet and Puligny-Montrachet (see under Montrachet).