Beaune Premier Cru
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Beaune wine is produced in the commune of
Beaune Beaune (; in Burgundian: ''Beane'') is widely considered to be the wine capital of Burgundy in the Côte d'Or department in eastern France. It is located between Lyon and Dijon. Beaune is one of the key wine centers in France, and a major ...
in the
Côte de Beaune The Côte de Beaune area is the southern part of the Côte d'Or (escarpment), Côte d'Or, the limestone ridge that is home to the great names of Burgundy wine. The Côte de Beaune (France) starts between Nuits-Saint-Georges and Beaune, and exten ...
subregion of
Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...
. The ''
appellation d'origine contrôlée In France, the ''appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (, ; abbr. AOC ) is a label that identifies an agricultural product whose stages of production and processing are carried out in a defined geographical area – the ''terroir'' – and using ...
'' (AOC) Beaune may be used for
red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...
and
white wine White wine is a wine that is Fermentation in winemaking, fermented without undergoing the process of Maceration (wine), maceration, which involves prolonged contact between the juice with the grape skins, seeds, and pulp. The wine color, colou ...
with respectively
Pinot noir Pinot noir (), also known as Pinot nero, is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name also refers to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words fo ...
and
Chardonnay Chardonnay (, ; ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new a ...
as the main grape variety. The production consists of slightly over 85 percent red wine, and slightly less than 15 percent white wine. While there are no '' Grand cru'' vineyards within Beaune, there are several well-known and highly regarded ''
Premier cru Cru is a wine Glossary of wine terms, term used to indicate a high-quality vineyard or group of vineyards. It is a French language, French word which was originally used to refer to both a region and anything grown in it, but is now mostly used t ...
'' vineyards, including some that are owned by the large ''
négociant A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to de ...
'' houses in Beaune and produce some of their "flagship" wines at the ''Premier cru'' level. The AOC was created in 1936. In 2008, there was of vineyard surface in production for Beaune wine at village and ''Premier cru'' level, making Beaune the largest village-named appellation of the Côte d'Or, just ahead of Gevrey-Chambertin AOC in vineyard size. A total of 15,652 hectolitres of wine were produced in 2008, of which 13,319 hectolitres were red wine and 2,333 hectolitres white wine.BIVB: Les Appellations d’Origine Contrôlée de Bourgogne
accessed on November 16, 2009
Some of this area was used for the red wines in 2007.BIVB: Beaune
, accessed on November 16, 2009
The total amount produced corresponds to almost 2.1 million bottles, which included almost 1.8 million bottles of red wine and a little over 300,000 bottles of white wine. For white wines, the AOC regulations allow both Chardonnay and
Pinot blanc Pinot blanc () or Pinot bianco 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 wh ...
to be used, but most wines are 100% Chardonnay. The AOC regulations also allow up to 15 percent total of Chardonnay, Pinot blanc and
Pinot gris Pinot gris, pinot grigio (, ), or ''Grauburgunder'' is a white wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. Thought to be a mutant clone of the pinot noir variety, it normally has a pinkish-gray hue, accounting for its name, but th ...
as accessory grapes in the red wines, but this is not practised very often. The allowed base yield is 40 hectoliters per hectare of red wine and 45 hectoliters per hectare for white wine. The grapes must reach a maturity of at least 10.5 percent
potential alcohol Must weight is a measure of the amount of sugar in grape juice (must) and, hence, indicates the amount of alcohol that could be produced if it is all fermented to alcohol, rather than left as residual sugar.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. The original hospital building, the Hôtel-Dieu, one ...
, which annually holds a charity
wine auction A wine auction may also auction other alcoholic beverages than wine. There are two basic types of wine auctions: ''first hand wine auctions'', where wineries sell their own wines, and '' second hand wine auctions'', arranged by auction houses or ...
.


''Premiers crus''

There are 42 '' climats'' in Beaune classified as ''Premier cru'' vineyards, located as a wide band across the commune, from its border with
Pommard Pommard () is a Communes of France, commune in the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region of eastern France. Famous for its Côte de Beaune Burgundy wine, wine production, Pommard is s ...
to its border with
Savigny-lès-Beaune Savigny-lès-Beaune (, literally ''Savigny near Beaune'') is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in eastern France.Côte d'Or Côte Restaurants Group Limited, trading as Côte (formerly Côte Brasserie), stylised as CÔTE is a French-style British restaurant chain founded by Richard Caring, Andy Bassadone, Chris Benians and Nick Fiddler in Wimbledon, London Wimbl ...
hillside just above (to the west of) the town. More than three-quarters of the vineyard surface within Beaune AOC is classified as ''Premier cru''. The wines of these vineyards are designated ''Beaune Premier Cru'' + vineyard name, or may labelled just ''Beaune Premier Cru'', in which case it is possible to blend wine from several ''Premier cru'' vineyards within the AOC. In 2007, of the total Beaune vineyard surface consisted of Premier Cru vineyards, of which red and white Beaune Premier Cru. The annual production of Premier Cru wine, as a five-year average, is 5,231 hectolitres of red wine and 440 hectoliters of white wine. The ''climats'' classified as ''Premiers crus'' are:


Flagship Beaune ''Premier cru'' wines

The "flagship" wines of the Beaune-based négociants are mainly the following: * ''Clos des Mouches'' from Maison Joseph Drouhin. Both a red and a white Clos des Mouches is produced, with the white version usually commanding a slightly higher price than the red and holding the status as the most famous white wine from the Beaune AOC. It was included in
Judgment of Paris The Judgement of Paris is a story from Greek mythology, which was one of the events that led up to the Trojan War, and in later versions to the foundation of Rome. Eris (mythology), Eris, the goddess of discord, was not invited to the wedding ...
. The two wines come from a holding of , located in the southern part of the commune, on the border to Pommard AOC. It is planted to half of Pinot noir for the red wine and half of Chardonnay for the white wine. It was purchased in the form of several different parcels from different previous owner by Maurice Drouhin in the 1920s in order to create one large top-class vineyard for Drouhin. * ''Clos des Ursules'' from Maison Louis Jadot. This red wine comes from a walled vineyard (
clos Clos may refer to: People * Clos (surname) Other uses * CLOS, Command line-of-sight, a method of guiding a missile to its intended target * Clos network, a kind of multistage switching network * Clos (vineyard), a walled vineyard; used in Fra ...
) which is a part of the climat ''Les Vignes Franches'' in the southern part of the commune. It was purchased by Louis Henry Denis Jadot in 1826, and has remained in Jadot's hands since then. * ''Vigne De L'Enfant Jésus'' from Bouchard Père & Fils. This red wine comes from a plot of slightly under which is a part of the climat ''Les Grèves'', in the central-northern part of the commune. It has been owned by Bouchard since 1791, when property nationalised during the French Revolution was sold off, and was previously owned by
Carmelites The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (; abbreviated OCarm), known as the Carmelites or sometimes by synecdoche known simply as Carmel, is a mendicant order in the Catholic Church for both men and women. Histo ...
which had received it as a donation in the 17th century.Bouchard Père & Fils: Vigne De L'Enfant Jésus
accessed on November 16, 2009


Other "Beaune" appellations

The name "Beaune" also appears in the appellations Chorey-lès-Beaune AOC and
Savigny-lès-Beaune AOC Savigny-lès-Beaune (, literally ''Savigny near Beaune'') is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in eastern France.Côte de Beaune AOC Côte Restaurants Group Limited, trading as Côte (formerly Côte Brasserie), stylised as CÔTE is a French-style British restaurant chain founded by Richard Caring, Andy Bassadone, Chris Benians and Nick Fiddler in Wimbledon, London Wimbl ...
and
Côte de Beaune-Villages AOC Côte Restaurants Group Limited, trading as Côte (formerly Côte Brasserie), stylised as CÔTE is a French-style British restaurant chain founded by Richard Caring, Andy Bassadone, Chris Benians and Nick Fiddler in Wimbledon, London Wimbl ...
. Côte de Beaune-Villages AOC is appellation that can be used for wines from several communes, and are therefore typically seen as simpler appellations. Côte de Beaune AOC, often confused with Côte de Beaune-Villages AOC, is an AOC for a small number of vineyards high on the slopes above Beaune. French Wikipedia: Côte de Beaune AOC The Hautes-Côtes de Beaune is a subregion covering various smaller valleys immediately to the west of the Côtes de Beaune areas on or closer to the main Côte d'Or escarpment. They are sold as Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Beaune AOC.


References


External links

*{{in lang, en}
Burgundy Wines - Côte de Beaune
Burgundy (historical region) AOCs