Clos Saint-Denis is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée

Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée

Appellation d’origine contrôlée , which translates as "controlled designation of origin", is the French certification granted to certain French geographical indications for wines, cheeses, butters, and other agricultural products, all under the auspices of the government bureau Institut National...

(AOC) and Grand Cru vineyard

Vineyard

A vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice...

 for red wine in the Côte de Nuits

Côte de Nuits

The Côte de Nuits is a French wine region located in the northern part of the Côte d'Or, the limestone ridge that is at the heart of the Burgundy wine region. It extends from Dijon to just south of Nuits-Saint-Georges, which gives its name to the district and is the regional center...

 subregion of 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...

, with Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir

Pinot noir is a black wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes...

 as the main grape variety. It is situated in the commune of Morey-Saint-Denis

Morey-Saint-Denis

Morey-Saint-Denis is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in eastern France.-Population:-Wine:Morey-Saint-Denis is situated in the Northern section of the Côte d'Or called Côte de Nuits. It is one of the principal wine producing villages of the region....

 in the Côte-d'Or

Côte-d'Or

Côte-d'Or is a department in the eastern part of France.- History :Côte-d'Or is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was formed from part of the former province of Burgundy.- Geography :...

 département. Clos de la Roche is located just to the north of the village Morey-Saint-Denis (which has borrowed its name from the vineyard) and borders to the Grand Cru vineyard Clos de la Roche

Clos de la Roche

Clos de la Roche is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée for red wine in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy, with Pinot Noir as the main grape variety. It is situated in the commune of Morey-Saint-Denis in the Côte-d'Or département...

 in the north. The AOC was created in 1936, and the Clos part of its name refers to a wall-enclosed vineyard.

History

Clos Saint-Denis was originally a church-owned vineyard, belonging to the Collégiale de St-Denis de Vergy, named after Saint Denis

Denis

Saint Denis is a Christian martyr and saint. In the third century, he was Bishop of Paris. He was martyred in connection with the Decian persecution of Christians, shortly after A.D. 250...

.

Production

In 2008, 5.99 hectares (14.8 acre) of vineyard surface was in production within the AOC, and 200 hectoliter of wine was produced, corresponding to just under 27,000 bottles.

AOC regulations

The main grape variety for Clos Saint-Denis is Pinot Noir. The AOC regulations also allow up to 15 per cent total of Chardonnay

Chardonnay

Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is originated from the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand...

, Pinot Blanc

Pinot Blanc

Pinot blanc is a white wine grape. It is a point genetic mutation of Pinot noir. Pinot noir is genetically unstable and will occasionally experience a point mutation in which a vine bears all black fruit except for one cane which produced white fruit....

 and Pinot Gris

Pinot Gris

Pinot gris is a white wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. Thought to be a mutant clone of the Pinot noir grape, it normally has a grayish-blue fruit, accounting for its name but the grape can have a brownish pink to black and even white appearance...

 as accessory grapes, but this is practically never used for any Burgundy Grand Cru vineyard. The allowed base yield

Yield (wine)

In viticulture, the yield is a measure of the amount of grapes or wine that is produced per unit surface of vineyard, and is therefore a type of crop yield...

 is 35 hectoliter per hectare, a minimum planting density of 9,000 vines per hectare is required as well as a minium grape maturity of 11.5 per cent potential alcohol.