Côte de Nuits
Encyclopedia
French wine
French wine is produced in several regions throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France has the world's second-largest total vineyard area, behind Spain, and is in the position of being the world's largest wine producer...
region located in the northern part of the Côte d'Or
Côte d'Or (escarpment)
The Côte d'Or is a limestone escarpment in Burgundy, France that lends its name to the department which was formed around it...
, the limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
ridge that is at the heart of the Burgundy wine
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...
region. It extends from Dijon
Dijon
Dijon is a city in eastern France, the capital of the Côte-d'Or département and of the Burgundy region.Dijon is the historical capital of the region of Burgundy. Population : 151,576 within the city limits; 250,516 for the greater Dijon area....
to just south of Nuits-Saint-Georges
Nuits-Saint-Georges
Nuits-Saint-Georges is a commune in the arrondissement of Beaune of the Côte-d'Or department in eastern France. It lies in the Burgundy region.-Wine:Nuits-Saint-Georges is the main town of the Côte de Nuits wine-producing area of Burgundy...
, which gives its name to the district and is the regional center. Though some white and rosé
Rosé
A rosé is a type of wine that has some of the color typical of a red wine, but only enough to turn it pink. The pink color can range from a pale orange to a vivid near-purple, depending on the grapes and wine making techniques.- Production techniques :There are three major ways to produce rosé...
wines are produced in the region, the Côte de Nuits is most famous for reds made from 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...
. The Côte de Nuits covers fourteen communes. Six produce grand cru wines, in the central district between Gevrey-Chambertin and Nuits-Saint-Georges, with four lesser villages either side. The Grand Crus of the Cote de Nuits are some of the smallest appellations in France, less than a hectare
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
in the case of La Romanée
La Romanée
La Romanée is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée and Grand Cru vineyard for red wine in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy, with Pinot Noir as the main grape variety. It is situated within the commune of Vosne-Romanée and is a monopole of the winery Comte Liger-Belair...
.
Among the northern villages of the Côte de Nuits there are several distinct terroir
Terroir
Terroir comes from the word terre "land". It was originally a French term in wine, coffee and tea used to denote the special characteristics that the geography, geology and climate of a certain place bestowed upon particular varieties...
. Uniquely in Burgundy, Marsannay-la-Côte
Marsannay-la-Côte
Marsannay-la-Côte is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in Bourgogne in eastern France.-Geography:Marsannay-la-Côte contains a strip of vineyards on the slope of the Côte d'Or. The vineyards are the most northerly part of the Burgundy wine region. In the plain of the Saône to the east, large...
produces wine of all three colors - red and rosé
Rosé
A rosé is a type of wine that has some of the color typical of a red wine, but only enough to turn it pink. The pink color can range from a pale orange to a vivid near-purple, depending on the grapes and wine making techniques.- Production techniques :There are three major ways to produce rosé...
from Pinot Noir, white from 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...
. The 529 acres (214.1 ha) of the Marsannay appellation extends into Couchey
Couchey
Couchey is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in Bourgogne in eastern France.-Population:- Wine :The vineyards of Couchey are part of the appellation d'origine contrôlée Marsannay.-References:*...
and Chênove
Chenôve
Chenôve is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in eastern France.It is the most populous suburb of the city of Dijon, and is located adjacent to the city's southwest side.-Population:- Wine :...
. The village of Fixin has its own appellation, but the area of Brochon
Brochon
Brochon is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in eastern France.-Population:-Wine:Some of the vineyards in Brochon are part of the appellation d'origine contrôlée Gevrey-Chambertin, and some are part of Fixin appellation. Most are however only entitled to the Côte de Nuits-Villages appellation....
Côte de Nuits Villages extends into the commune with 55 acres (22.3 ha) of premier cru vineyards out of 193 acres (78.1 ha) of Pinot Noir and 3 acres (1.2 ha) of Chardonnay. The village of Gevrey-Chambertin has more Grand Crus than any other village, with nine. Chambertin
Chambertin
Chambertin is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée and Grand Cru vineyard for red wine in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy, with Pinot Noir as the main grape variety. Chambertin is located within the commune of Gevrey-Chambertin, and it is situated approximately in the centre of a group of...
and its extension Chambertin-Clos de Beze
Chambertin-Clos de Bèze
Chambertin-Clos de Bèze is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée and Grand Cru vineyard for red wine in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy, with Pinot Noir as the main grape variety. Chambertin-Clos de Bèze is located within the commune of Gevrey-Chambertin, together with a group of nine Grand...
are widely recognized for the quality of their red Burgundy. The other Grand Crus are Mazis-Chambertin
Mazis-Chambertin
Mazis-Chambertin, sometimes written Mazy-Chambertin is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée and Grand Cru vineyard for red wine in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy, with Pinot Noir as the main grape variety. Mazis-Chambertin is located within the commune of Gevrey-Chambertin. It is situated...
, Chapelle-Chambertin
Chapelle-Chambertin
Chapelle-Chambertin is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée and Grand Cru vineyard for red wine in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy, with Pinot Noir as the main grape variety...
, Charmes-Chambertin
Charmes-Chambertin
Charmes-Chambertin is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée and Grand Cru vineyard for red wine in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy, with Pinot Noir as the main grape variety...
, Mazoyeres-Chambertin
Mazoyères-Chambertin
Mazoyères-Chambertin is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée and Grand Cru vineyard for red wine in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy, with Pinot Noir as the main grape variety. Mazoyères-Chambertin is located within the commune of Gevrey-Chambertin. It is situated below the Route des Grands...
, Griotte-Chambertin
Griotte-Chambertin
Griotte-Chambertin is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée and Grand Cru vineyard for red wine in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy, with Pinot Noir as the main grape variety. Griotte-Chambertin is located within the commune of Gevrey-Chambertin...
, Latricieres-Chambertin
Latricières-Chambertin
Latricières-Chambertin is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée and Grand Cru vineyard for red wine in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy, with Pinot Noir as the main grape variety. Griotte-Chambertin is located within the commune of Gevrey-Chambertin. It is situated above the Route des Grands...
and Ruchottes-Chambertin
Ruchottes-Chambertin
Ruchottes-Chambertin is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée and Grand Cru vineyard for red wine in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy, with Pinot Noir as the main grape variety. Ruchottes-Chambertin is located within the commune of Gevrey-Chambertin...
. Morey-Saint-Denis is a small commune with four Grand Crus: 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...
, Clos St. Denis, Clos des Lambrays
Clos des Lambrays
Clos des Lambrays is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée and Grand Cru vineyard 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, and is located immediately to the...
and Clos de Tart
Clos de Tart
Clos de Tart is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée and Grand Cru vineyard 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...
.
Also among the northern villages, the vineyard soils of Chambolle are particularly chalky
Chalky
Chalky was TV chef Rick Stein's rough-haired Jack Russell Terrier dog, who regularly accompanied Stein when filming his popular cookery shows and became recognised and popular in his own right - many of Stein's friends and interviewees claimed he was more famous than the chef himself.The fearless,...
, giving the wines a lighter body and finer edge of aromas that complements the usual Côte de Nuits backbone of flavor notes. A little white wine is also made in this area. Wines labelled with Chambolle Premier Cru is usually a blend of some of the 19 individual vineyard Premier Crus, of which only Les Amoureuses and Les Charmes are commonly seen. The Grand Crus are Bonnes Mares
Bonnes Mares
Bonnes Mares is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée and Grand Cru vineyard for red wine in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy, with Pinot Noir as the main grape variety. The AOC was created in 1936. It is shared between the two communes of Chambolle-Musigny and Morey-Saint-Denis in the...
(which spills over into Morey-Saint-Denis) and Musigny
Musigny
Musigny is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in eastern France.-Population:-References:*...
. The village of Vougeot has just one Grand Cru vineyard - Clos Vougeot
Clos Vougeot
Clos de Vougeot, also known as Clos Vougeot, is a wall-enclosed vineyard, a clos, in the Burgundy wine region, and an Appellation d'origine contrôlée for red wine from this vineyard. It was named for the River Vouge, which is in fact only a stream separating the village Vougeot from...
- that is massive by Burgundy standards, and produces three times as much wine as the rest of the commune. But the variation in terroir over its 124 acres (50.2 ha), and the different winemaking
Winemaking
Winemaking, or vinification, is the production of wine, starting with selection of the grapes or other produce and ending with bottling the finished wine. Although most wine is made from grapes, it may also be made from other fruit or non-toxic plant material...
styles of its 75+ owners, mean that wines labeled with the vineyard name Clos Vougeot show as much variation as the wines from entire communes elsewhere. The village of Flagey is best known for its Grand Crus of Grands Echézeaux
Grands Échezeaux
Grands Échezeaux is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée and Grand Cru vineyard for red wine in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy, with Pinot Noir as the main grape variety. Grands Échezeaux is located within the commune of Flagey-Echézeaux, on a strip of land between the territory of the...
and Echézeaux
Échezeaux
Échezeaux is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée and Grand Cru vineyard for red wine in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy, with Pinot Noir as the main grape variety. Échezeaux is located within the commune of Flagey-Echézeaux, on a strip of land between the territory of the communes...
; its Premier Crus are sold under the label of Vosne-Romanée. Vosne contains some of the most famous names in the wine world, notably Romanée-Conti
Romanée-Conti
Romanée-Conti is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée and Grand Cru vineyard for red wine in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy, with Pinot Noir as the sole grape variety. It is situated within the commune of Vosne-Romanée and is a monopole of the winery Société Civile du Domaine de la...
and La Tâche
La Tâche
La Tâche is a commune in the Charente department in southwestern France.-Population:-References:*...
, two monopole
Monopole (wine)
A monopole is an area controlled by a single winery and can be as small as a lieu-dit or as large as an entire appellation d'origine contrôlée, such as Bordeaux or Champagne. Frequently this is mentioned on the label and it is rare for only one winery to produce all the wine from an area...
s of the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, often abbreviated to DRC, is an estate in Burgundy, France that produces white and red wine. It is widely considered among the world's greatest wine producers, and DRC bottles are among the world's most expensive...
. The other Grand Crus are Richebourg
Richebourg (wine)
Richebourg is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée and Grand Cru vineyard for red wine in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy, with Pinot Noir as the main grape variety. It is situated within the commune of Vosne-Romanée, and borders La Romanée and Romanée-Conti in the south,...
, La Romanée
La Romanée
La Romanée is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée and Grand Cru vineyard for red wine in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy, with Pinot Noir as the main grape variety. It is situated within the commune of Vosne-Romanée and is a monopole of the winery Comte Liger-Belair...
(the smallest AOC
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...
in France, at 2 acres/0.84 hectares), Romanée-St. Vivant and La Grand Rue.
Amidst the southern villages, Nuits-Saint-Georges the largest town in the region with producers often selling their wine to the north. The local wines are most of 'Villages' quality, and need longer aging in the cellar than most Burgundies of similar quality. Wines from Premeaux-Prissey
Premeaux-Prissey
Premeaux-Prissey is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in eastern France.-Population:-Wine:Some of the vineyards in Premeaux-Prissey are part of the appellation d'origine contrôlée Nuits-Saint-Georges, which is named after the neighbouring commune, and some only qualify for the more general...
are sold under the Nuits-Saint-Georges appellation and as Côte de Nuits Villages. Comblanchien
Comblanchien
Comblanchien is a commune just to the south of Nuits-Saint-Georges in the Côte-d'Or department in eastern France.-Geology:Comblanchien lies in the Côte d'Or escarpment...
gives its name to the seam of limestone in the middle of the Côte d'Or. Its wine is sold as Côte de Nuits Villages. The southernmost village of Corgoloin
Corgoloin
Corgoloin is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in eastern France.-Population:-References:*...
is also covered by the Côte de Nuits Villages appellation.
History
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
sometime during the 3rd century AD. Breaking away from the typical Roman style of planting near rivers, the Romans encouraged their allies in the area, the Aedui
Aedui
Aedui, Haedui or Hedui , were a Gallic people of Gallia Lugdunensis, who inhabited the country between the Arar and Liger , in today's France. Their territory thus included the greater part of the modern departments of Saône-et-Loire, Côte-d'Or and Nièvre.-Geography:The country of the Aedui is...
to plant vines on the narrow strip of land that was located to the east of their settlement at Augustodunum. It was this area, known asPagus Arebrignus, that was to eventually be subdivided into the Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune. When the area was under attack from the Alamans and other Germanic tribes, the Romans sought the help of a Baltic
Baltic region
The terms Baltic region, Baltic Rim countries, and Baltic Rim refer to slightly different combinations of countries in the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea.- Etymology :...
tribe known as the Burgundians
Burgundians
The Burgundians were an East Germanic tribe which may have emigrated from mainland Scandinavia to the island of Bornholm, whose old form in Old Norse still was Burgundarholmr , and from there to mainland Europe...
who would eventually settle into the area and give the region its name.
In 312 AD, Emperor Constantine visited the region where his orator described the turmoil that the region endures in cultivating vine. While the quality of the wine was the envy of the empire, the emperor was told, the vines can only be planted on a narrow patch of land between marshy plains and infertile rocky hilltops where winter frost often devastate the crops. Taking the wine down from the côte in fragile wood barrels was a treacherous ordeal along the potholed filled roads of the region, with many barrels being broken and lost along the way. The orator also described a scene of tangled old vines and knotted roots dotted along the vineyard, a likely sign that the ancient Burgundians practiced the vine propagation method of provignage or layering
Layering
Layering is a means of plant propagation in which a portion of an aerial stem grows roots while still attached to the parent plant and then detaches as an independent plant. Layering has evolved as a common means of vegetative propagation of numerous species in natural environments...
.
By the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, the Benedictines and Cistercians would come to be the dominating force. The Dukes of Burgundy and Valois, through their political influence and patronage of the church, would do much to spread the renown of the area for its unique and distinctive wines. As early as the 15th century, the vineyards of Chambertain and Nuits were gaining reputations apart from the greater Burgundy region. It was, in these early years, that the developing concept of terroir
Terroir
Terroir comes from the word terre "land". It was originally a French term in wine, coffee and tea used to denote the special characteristics that the geography, geology and climate of a certain place bestowed upon particular varieties...
-of a uniqueness tied into the land-began to be associated with the area.
The 17th century saw more vineyards come under the control of the bourgeoisie
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
as the church landholders began selling their lands to the wealthy from the nearby city of Dijon
Dijon
Dijon is a city in eastern France, the capital of the Côte-d'Or département and of the Burgundy region.Dijon is the historical capital of the region of Burgundy. Population : 151,576 within the city limits; 250,516 for the greater Dijon area....
. In 1631, the Abbey of St-Vivant sold their holdings in the villages of Vosne-Romanée
Vosne-Romanée
Vosne-Romanée is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in Burgundy in eastern France.-Population:-Wine:It produces the region's most celebrated wines, all made entirely from the Pinot Noir grape: "There can be little doubt that in the firmament of the Cote de nuits, Vosne-Romanée is the brightest...
. The vineyard of Clos de Beze was sold by the Cathedral at Langres in 1651. Then in 1662, the Cistercians sold off all their vineyard holdings near the town of Fixin.
The 18th century and changing winemaking styles
Guy-Crescent Fagon
Guy-Crescent Fagon was a physician and botanist. He came from nobility and his great uncle, Guy de La Brosse, had founded the Royal Gardens. Fagon was director of the gardens too. His significance in botany is reflected in the genus Fagonia being named after him. He also acted as the physician of...
recommended that he drink only wines from Nuits St-Georges for their health giving properties
Wine and health
The issue of wine and health is a topic of considerable discussion and research. Wine has a long history of use as an early form of medication, being recommended variously as a safe alternative to drinking water, an antiseptic for treating wounds and a digestive aid, as well as a cure for a wide...
. Wine merchants in the Côte de Nuits latched onto this royal association as a great marketing coup over the region's rivals in Champagne and Bordeaux. The 18th century ushered in a period of tête de cuvée of wines made solely from the best grapes produced in single vineyards. To add to the distinctiveness of these wines, new winemaking
Winemaking
Winemaking, or vinification, is the production of wine, starting with selection of the grapes or other produce and ending with bottling the finished wine. Although most wine is made from grapes, it may also be made from other fruit or non-toxic plant material...
techniques such as extended maceration
Maceration (wine)
Maceration is the winemaking process where the phenolic materials of the grape— tannins, coloring agents and flavor compounds— are leached from the grape skins, seeds and stems into the must. Maceration is the process by which the red wine receives its red color, since 99% of all grape juice is...
and longer fermentations became popular. This produced dark, tannic wines a vin de garde-wines that required extended periods of aging. Imitation of this style by producers using lower quality of grapes saw producers use various methods of adulteration such as adding honey
Honey
Honey is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers. The variety produced by honey bees is the one most commonly referred to and is the type of honey collected by beekeepers and consumed by humans...
to the wine in order to increase the sugar and, subsequent, alcohol level of the wine. Following Jean-Antoine Chaptal
Jean-Antoine Chaptal
Jean-Antoine Claude, comte Chaptal de Chanteloup was a French chemist and statesman. He established chemical works for the manufacture of the mineral acids, soda and other substances...
's, Napoleon's Minister of the Interior, recommendation to use the method now known as chaptalization
Chaptalization
Chaptalization is the process of adding sugar to unfermented grape must in order to increase the alcohol content after fermentation. The technique is named after its developer, the French chemist Jean-Antoine-Claude Chaptal...
to boost alcohol levels, the market was flooded with Burgundy wines from the Côte de Nuits and beyond that were dark, dense and highly alcoholic.
Some of the winemakers producing those hard, dense wines would use some of small segments of white grapes grown in the Côte de Nuits as a softening blend in a manner similar to how white grapes were historically used in Chianti. While for most of its history, the Côte de Nuits had been firmly associated with red grape varieties, the 16th and 17th century saw an increase in plantings of white grape varieties, like Chardonnay and Fromenteau
Fromenteau
Fromenteau is the name for several grape varieties, most importantly the medieval name for a Burgundian variety which had pale red berries and white juice, and is probably the ancestor of Pinot gris....
. White grapes continue to be found scattered throughout the area, including a notable white Chambertain, until the mid 19th century when nearly all premier and Grand cru vineyards became completely dedicated to Pinot noir.
Classification of terroir
Following the success of the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855
The Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 resulted from the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris, when Emperor Napoleon III requested a classification system for France's best Bordeaux wines which were to be on display for visitors from around the world...
at the Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
Exposition Universelle
Exposition Universelle (1855)
The Exposition Universelle of 1855 was an International Exhibition held on the Champs-Elysées in Paris from May 15 to November 15, 1855. Its full official title was the Exposition Universelle des produits de l'Agriculture, de l'Industrie et des Beaux-Arts de Paris 1855.The exposition was a major...
, the Comité d'Agriculture de Beaune tasked Dr. Jules Lavalle with coming up with a similar classification of the vineyards of the Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune for the 1862 International Exhibition
1862 International Exhibition
The International of 1862, or Great London Exposition, was a world's fair. It was held from 1 May to 1 November 1862, beside the gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society, South Kensington, London, England, on a site that now houses museums including the Natural History Museum and the Science...
in London. The history of the tête de cuvée and making wine from a single vineyard estate was more established in the Côte de Nuits than Côte de Beaune which was reflected in Lavalle defining over 20 vineyards in the Côte de Nuits worthy of cru for red wines while the Côte de Beaune had only one exceptional vineyard. Lavalle's classification would serve as foundation for the official establishment of Grand cru and premier cru in the 1930s as 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...
or AOCs. Today there are 24 Grand cru vineyards in the Côte de Nuits clustered around six villages and more than 100 premier cru vineyards throughout the region.
Climate and geography
47th parallel north
The 47th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 47 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean....
, the Cote de Nuits is one of the northernmost regions to produce premium quality red wines. However, this northerly location brings with it a lot of vintage
Vintage
Vintage, in wine-making, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product . A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certain wines, it can denote quality, as in Port wine, where Port houses make and...
variation from year to year. From winter time hail, spring time frost and cool autumns that may bring devastating rains that impede ripening and harvest
Harvest (wine)
The harvesting of wine grapes is one of the most crucial steps in the process of winemaking. The time of harvest is determined primarily by the ripeness of the grape as measured by sugar, acid and tannin levels with winemakers basing their decision to pick based on the style of wine they wish to...
, the quality of each vintage can be highly variable. The vineyards of the Cote de Nuits are planted on east and southeast facing slopes that receive the most opportune sun exposures with vineyards designated as premier and grand cru almost always planted on this ideal aspect at elevations between 800–1000 ft (250–300 m).
The area experiences a continental climate during the growing season that is characterized by very cold winters and warm summers. The nearby Saône
Saône
The Saône is a river of eastern France. It is a right tributary of the River Rhône. Rising at Vioménil in the Vosges department, it joins the Rhône in Lyon....
river provides some moderation as does the foothills of the Massif Central
Massif Central
The Massif Central is an elevated region in south-central France, consisting of mountains and plateaux....
on the western flank of the region. Its location puts the wine region at a type of "climatic crossroads" where it expresses very different weather front
Weather front
A weather front is a boundary separating two masses of air of different densities, and is the principal cause of meteorological phenomena. In surface weather analyses, fronts are depicted using various colored lines and symbols, depending on the type of front...
s from very different sources such as the Baltic
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
sea from the north, the Atlantic from the west and the Mediterranean from the south. The confluences of these different weather system also adds to the great variability seen in vintage years. For instance, warm winds coming from the south can bring much need heat but can also bring the threat of torrential thunderstorm
Thunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm, a lightning storm, thundershower or simply a storm is a form of weather characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere known as thunder. The meteorologically assigned cloud type associated with the...
s and hail
Hail
Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is referred to as a hail stone. Hail stones on Earth consist mostly of water ice and measure between and in diameter, with the larger stones coming from severe thunderstorms...
, especially when those winds swing towards the west and meet up with the Atlantic influences. In the summertime, anticyclonic conditions are present but are usually kept in check by the cooling la bise wind from the north.
The term côte in French means hill and for the Cote de Nuits, it describes its geographical placement along the northern expanse of the Cote d'Or escarpment, located just south of the city of Dijon
Dijon
Dijon is a city in eastern France, the capital of the Côte-d'Or département and of the Burgundy region.Dijon is the historical capital of the region of Burgundy. Population : 151,576 within the city limits; 250,516 for the greater Dijon area....
. South of the village of Corgoloin begins the Cote de Beaune
Côte de Beaune
The Côte de Beaune area is the southern part of the Côte d'Or, the limestone ridge that is home to the great names of Burgundy wine. The Côte de Beaune starts between Nuits-Saint-Georges and Beaune, and extends southwards for about 25 km to the River Dheune...
region. The region is very narrow ranging from less than a quarter of a mile wide (2/5 of a kilometer) at its narrowest point to about a mile and half (approx 2.4 kilometers) at its widest point. The entire cote is located along a fault line
Fault line
In geology, fault line refers to the surface trace of a fault.Fault line, Fault Line, or faultline may also refer to:* "Faultline", a song from the 2008 studio album Versus by The Haunted...
situated between the plains of the Saône and the Morvan hills to the west. Within the region, dry valleys known as combes, such as the Combe de Lavaux near Gevery-Chambertain, and tributaries of the Saône, such as the Meuzin river near Nuits-St-Georges and the Vouge near the town of Vougeot, break up the escarpment and create patches of land with different aspects and orientations.
Soils
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
with marl
Marl
Marl or marlstone is a calcium carbonate or lime-rich mud or mudstone which contains variable amounts of clays and aragonite. Marl was originally an old term loosely applied to a variety of materials, most of which occur as loose, earthy deposits consisting chiefly of an intimate mixture of clay...
(a clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
and limestone mixture) that often includes a mixture of gravel
Gravel
Gravel is composed of unconsolidated rock fragments that have a general particle size range and include size classes from granule- to boulder-sized fragments. Gravel can be sub-categorized into granule and cobble...
and sand
Sand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...
. Historically Burgundian wine growers would uses the proportion of limestone to marl as a guide for what type of grape varieties would be most suited to the area. If the area had a high concentration of marl, Pinot noir was planted while Chardonnay would grow in vineyards dominated by limestone.
Most of the vineyard soils in the region date back to the Jurassic period of 195-135 million BC when the entire Burgundy region was part of a large inland sea. This left a foundation of predominately limestone made of from the skeletal fragments of the marine life that once roamed this sea. The marlstone of the region is made up of the marl, clay, sand and gravel fragments that came from the weathering of old mountain chains in the area such as the Ardennes
Ardennes
The Ardennes is a region of extensive forests, rolling hills and ridges formed within the Givetian Ardennes mountain range, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France , and geologically into the Eifel...
. The flow of streams and tributaries of the Saône contributes to the diversity of the vineyard soils by depositing alluvial sediments from their paths.
The soils closest to the plains of the Saône are too fertile, with patches of poorly drained soils, that make growing quality wine grapes difficult. As you move upwards along the cote escarpment the soil becomes progressively less fertile with higher proportions of the well-draining and highly porous oolitic limestone and less clay. At this elevation of around 800 ft (250 m) most of the premier cru vineyards start to be found with areas of particularly favored location being designated as grand cru. The band of suitable soils for viticulture is narrow because too far up the hills (beyond 1000 ft/300 m) the top soil becomes too thin to support vines.
Viticulture
Like most French wine regions, viticulture in the Cote de Nuits is dictated by tradition and AOC regulations. This can be seen in the high density planting of 4,000 vines per acre (10,000 vines per ha). This in contrast to other Pinot noir producing regions, such as Oregon and the Russian River Valley in Sonoma that rarely have vine density exceed 2,000 vines per acre. Most of the vines are trained under the Guyot system, though there has been some experimentation with the Cordon de Royat system to help temper the vigor of some over productive rootstockRootstock
A rootstock is a plant, and sometimes just the stump, which already has an established, healthy root system, used for grafting a cutting or budding from another plant. The tree part being grafted onto the rootstock is usually called the scion...
. The close plantings and tradition usually mandates manual harvesting of the grapes, especially for the premier and grand cru vineyards. Under AOC regulations, harvest yields for Pinot noir are limited to 40 hl/ha (2.3 tons per acre) for premier cru and village level wines and 35 hl/ha for grand cru. However, in what are deemed to be "exceptional years" that warrant larger harvests, growers can seek an exception to the yield maximum with an official plafond limite de classement or PLC from AOC authorities that will allow a 20-30% increase in maximum yields for the year.
Grape varieties
The two primary grapes of the Cote de Nuits, Pinot noir and Chardonnay, are believed to be indigenousIndigenous (ecology)
In biogeography, a species is defined as native to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention. Every natural organism has its own natural range of distribution in which it is regarded as native...
to the Burgundy wine region. Through centuries of trial and error, the two varieties have shown to produce the most consistent quality in the region. Broadly speaking, Pinot noir tends to be planted in areas with high proportion of marl while Chardonnay is most often found in vineyards that are dominated by limestone. As the Cote de Nuits has many areas with significant amounts of marl, Pinot noir is the dominant planting in the area. As a grape variety, Pinot noir is very reflective of the terroir it is grown in which, coupled with the highly variable soils of the area, can cause two Cote de Nuits wine producers in the same year and by the same producer to be dramatically different due to where exactly they were grown.
Winemaking
Unlike other wine regions of France (such as Bordeaux), winemaking in the Cote de Nuits exist on a very small scale. The typical domaine estate produces from 50 to 1,000 cases of wine a year, in contrast to a Bordeaux chateau which often makes more than 20,000 cases annually. Vineyards in the area are highly fragmented, with multiple owners each owning pieces of a family. A producer may own only 2 to 3 rows of vines in a vineyard which they could either produce as a separate wine or blend with the production of other similarly small holdings in other vineyards in the region. These blended wines will generally take on a larger scale designation of a village or district-level wines. Those producers who keep the production separate and unblended (such as for a Grand cru or Premier cru level wine) will make several batches of very small quantities of wine that can fetch high prices due to demand for their limited supplySupply and demand
Supply and demand is an economic model of price determination in a market. It concludes that in a competitive market, the unit price for a particular good will vary until it settles at a point where the quantity demanded by consumers will equal the quantity supplied by producers , resulting in an...
. A third option is to sell the grapes or wine to a negociant
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....
who may be able to purchase similar lots from the same vineyard to produce more cases of that Grand cru or Premier cru level wine.
Despite being made primarily from the same grape, Pinot noir, winemaking styles in the Cote de Nuits is far from monolithic. The individual style of the producer or negociant and the decisions they make at each step of the winemaking process—beginning with the sorting table as they grapes arrive from the harvest—will have an immense impact on the resulting quality of the wine. It is this reason, along with the varied and complex ownership of most grand and premier cru vineyards, that most wine experts put more weight on the reputation of the producer and the vintage year than on the vineyard name when it comes to evaluating all Burgundy wine-the Cote de Nuits not excluded.
Among the winemaking decisions where a producer's style can come through is the decision of whether or not to destem the grapes prior to crushing and fermentation. The presence of stems provide channels for the juice to percolate through the mass of grape skins that will form the cap during fermentation. This cap needs to be managed well and kept in constant contact with the juice in order to extract the color and phenolic compounds that will impact the flavor and aroma of the wine. While stems can help with this cap management, they also provide an additional source of tannins that may be extracted into the wine. The degree of tannin extraction desired will be up to the winemaker with some tannins adding to the mouthfeel and aging potential of the wine while too much can make the wine seem harsh, bitter and out of the balance. The length of maceration, whether or not the wine stays in contact with its skin throughout the entire fermentation period, as well as the temperature that the wine is kept at throughout that fermentation will have an influence on the extraction of the color, tannins and phenols. The temperature of fermentation will also have an impact on the volatilizing of the compounds that contribute to the aroma of the wine.
After fermentation, the oak barrel aging regiment will vary with the length of time and proportion of new oak barrels that are used. Most Cote de Nuit producers prefer to age their red wines for at least a year to 18 months and blend lots between barrels of different ages. The traditional barrel used in Burgundy holds 228 liters which is slightly larger than the 225 liters that a traditional Bordeaux wine barrel holds. Prior to bottling, the producer will decide on what, if any fining and filtration methods will be used in the clarification and stabilization of the wine. Some producers will use both, others will fine and not filter and a few will choose to use neither, believing that they can negatively impact the complexity of the wine even though the wine may have a higher risk of spoilage and instability.
Villages
The village of Vougeot (Voo joe) is known for its large grand cru vineyard Clos de Vougeot and the full bodied wines it produces. The village of Vosne-Romanee (vone roh mah nay) is known for the rich, velvet textured wines produced in its six grand cru vineyards-Romanée-Conti, La Tâche, Richebourg, La Romanée, Romanée-St. Vivant and La Grand Rue. The village of Flagey-Echezeaux (flah jhay eh sheh zoe) is essentially a hamlet
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
of Vosne-Romanee that contains the grand crus of Grands Echézeaux and Echézeaux. The Cote de Nuits takes it name from the village of Nuits-St-Georges (nwee san johr'j) which contains no grand crus but several highly esteemed premier crus such as Les Vaucrains and Les Saints-Georges that produces earthy red wines.
Secondary villages
The village of Marsannay (mahr sah nay) is noted for its Pinot noir roséRosé
A rosé is a type of wine that has some of the color typical of a red wine, but only enough to turn it pink. The pink color can range from a pale orange to a vivid near-purple, depending on the grapes and wine making techniques.- Production techniques :There are three major ways to produce rosé...
s.
The village of Fixin
Fixin
Fixin is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in the Bourgogne region on the Grand Crus route in eastern France.-Administration:- Population :-Sights:...
(fee san) is noted for its earthy red wines, particularly those from its premier cru vineyard of Clos du Chapitre.
Appellation labeling laws
Wine produced in the Cote de Nuits can fall under several Appellation d'Origine ContrôléeAppellation 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) depending on where the grapes were grown and whether they were blended with grapes from other areas. All wines produced in the Cote de Nuits is entitled to the basic AOC Bourgogne designation for either its blanc Chardonnay wines or it Rouge Pinot noir. A higher quality AOC is the Côte de Nuits Villages, a general appellation for wines from five of the smaller communes : Fixin and Brochon in the north, Comblanchien, Corgoloin and Prissey to the south. The Hautes-Côtes de Nuits
Hautes-Côtes de Nuits
Hautes-Côtes de Nuits is a subregion of the Burgundy wine region located to the west of the Côte de Nuits subregion. While Côte de Nuits consists of vineyards located on or close to the main Côte d'Or escarpment, Hautes-Côtes de Nuits covers the area on top of the escarpment, and the adjacent area...
are a separate appellation for the hills to the west of Nuits-St-Georges. Individual 'village' appellations are the next step up, although not all match the commune boundaries or names. Notably in the north the Marsannay appellation covers Marsannay-la-Côte and parts of Couchey and Chênove. The Premiers Crus are the next level and roughly correspond to individual vineyards that weren't deemed good enough for Grand Cru status.
External links
- The place of the Côte de Nuits in the wineWineWine 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...
geography of Burgundy. - A more detailed map. Navigate to details of the respective villages.