Côte de Beaune

The Côte de Beaune is almost twice the size of the Côte de Nuits, with around 6,000 hectares under vine. Whereas the Côte de Nuits is an elongated strip of east-facing slopes, the gradient rising steeply into the hills above, the Côte de Beaune has several side valleys, making it for a broader shape on a map.

Travelling north to south, the Côte de Beaune makes a dramatic entrance just before the city of Beaune itself, in the shape of the iconic Hill of Corton. This southern region is the more rugged and picturesque half of the Côte d’Or. Whilst the Côte de Nuits encroaches on suburbia at its northern extreme and marble quarries in the south, the Côte de Beaune feels like proper countryside. The appellation covers both white and red wines.

Three villages lay claim to the Grand Cru Corton-Charlemagne and Corton appellations: Aloxe-Corton, Ladoix-Serrigny and Pernand-Vergelesses. Corton-Charlemagne is a white wine appellation, half of which consists of the Le Charlemagne and En Charlemagne vineyards. Corton is a red wine appellation. Growers may attach the name of a specific lieu-dit (such as Corton-Bressandes or Corton Clos du Roi), or can make a generic Corton from a blend of vineyards.

Beaune is a large appellation and, sharing its name with the Côte d’Or’s main city, tends to confuse people. Add to that the nearby appellations of Savigny-lès-Beaune and Chorey-lès-Beaune (the ‘lès’ signifying ‘close to’) and you can see Beaune’s unfortunate image problem.

Luckily for us, however, this means that there are still some relative bargains here. In the present offering, the Beaune wines of Domaine Rossignol-Trapet and Domaine Lafarge should not be missed (see pages [ ] and [ ] respectively), whilst Domaine Jacques Prieur and Domaine Pierre Labet, released separately in December, also have extensive Beaune holdings.

Pommard used to be the fashionable sibling of nearby Volnay, its clay soils making for a more corporeal, muscular style than Volnay’s delicate, ephemeral wines. Changing tastes meant the tables have turned somewhat, but a handful of quality producers are making exciting wines. As a red wine enclave in white wine country, Pommard is underrated and well worth exploring.

Silky, seductive, beguiling and ethereal. Volnay can be all of these things. Despite being surrounded by Chardonnay, this outpost of Pinot Noir has many parallels with the perfumed elegance of Chambolle-Musigny. A relatively small commune, Volnay lies between Pommard and Meursault. The vineyard slopes, facing east and south, descend steeply, before inclining more gently towards the road below - the photo opposite of Marquis d’Angerville’s holdings, illustrates this well. The soils are marls, with a bedrock of limestone.

The largest village of the Côte de Beaune, Meursault lies in the centre of the appellation, with Volnay to the north and Puligny-Montrachet to the south. Although we have come to expect volume and ‘butteriness’ from Meursault, there is in fact a lot of limestone in the soil and corresponding nervy tension in the wines. The best Meursaults need little makeup.

Meursault is primarily Chardonnay country but there are islands of Pinot Noir, notably Les Santenots, which sits on the boundary with Volnay and can be labelled Volnay-Santenots. As with Nuits-Saint-Georges, it is surprising that a village of this renown has no grands crus. Meursault has perhaps suffered historically by comparison with Puligny and Chassagne from not having ‘Montrachet’ appended to its name. Whatever the reason, it can be argued convincingly that the best Meursault premiers crus are of grand cru calibre.

For many the pinnacle of white Burgundy, the name Puligny-Montrachet is universally recognised and a stamp of quality. Laser-like, linear, precise, steely, floral – these are the adjectives we hope to write when we taste the wines of Puligny. The village shares the Montrachet vineyard with its neighbour, Chassagne, entitling it to its cherished suffix. We work with three Puligny growers, who between them cover a broad spectrum of styles and sites.

Saint-Aubin lies in a side-valley in the hills to the west of Puligny- and Chassagne-Montrachet, at over 300 metres above sea level. You drive up there through forest; the air feels fresher. The appellation dates from 1937. The soils are clay-heavy; white wines tend to come from the lighter clays, with high limestone content, with the reds thriving on the heavier brown clay soils. Previously seen as a source of value relative to adjoining Puligny and Chassagne, the best wines from Saint-Aubin now rival those from its more famous neighbours.

Sitting at the southernmost tip of the Côte d’Or, Santenay’s plantings consist of around 90% black grapes and just 10% white. Its history dates back to pre-Roman times, when it was prized for its thermal waters, rich in mineral salts.

The vineyards are marked out by the windmill which sits in the premier cru Beauregard vineyard. The village itself, home to little more than 1,000 inhabitants, has a pretty central square which always seems strangely deserted. Not an easy place to find a post-tasting coffee…

With the steady march of prices further north in the Côte, this is an appellation which is fast establishing roots in the minds of Burgundy lovers.