Chambertin is an ''

Appellation d'origine contrôlée An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical bo ...

'' (AOC) and

Grand Cru Cru is a wine term used to indicate a high-quality vineyard or group of vineyards. It is a French word which is traditionally translated as "growth", as is the past participle of the verb "croître" (to grow); it literally means 'grown'. The ...

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vine ...

for

red wine Red wine is a type of wine made from dark-colored grape varieties. The color of the wine can range from intense violet, typical of young wines, through to brick red for mature wines and brown for older red wines. The juice from most purple gra ...

in the

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 ...

subregion of

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) 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 ...

, with

Pinot noir Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words for ''pine'' and ''black.' ...

as the main grape variety. Chambertin is located within the commune of

Gevrey-Chambertin Gevrey-Chambertin () is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department of France in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France.

, and it is situated approximately in the centre of a group of nine Grand Cru vineyards all having "Chambertin" as part of their name.K. MacNeil ''The Wine Bible'' pg 191-195 Workman Publishing 2001 The other eight vineyards, which all are separate AOCs, have hyphenated names where Chambertin appears with a prefix, such as Chapelle-Chambertin. Chambertin itself is situated above (to the west of) the

Route des Grands Crus The Route des Grands Crus (roughly, "road of the great wines") is the name of a tourist route situated in Burgundy, France. The approximately 60-kilometre route runs along the foot of the Côte d'Or escarpment, from Dijon in the north to Sante ...

. It borders on Chambertin-Clos de Bèze in the north, Griotte-Chambertin and Charmes-Chambertin in the east (across the road) and the Latricières-Chambertin in the south.BIVB fiche
accessed on December 1, 2009 The AOC was created in 1937. Of the surrounding vineyards, wines from Chambertin-Clos de Bèze may also be sold under the Chambertin AOC. However, Chambertin-Clos de Bèze has a very good reputation on its own, so this is not widely practiced. The other seven "hyphenated Chambertin" Grand Cru vineyards do not have this right to use the Chambertin AOC.

Wine style

As with most of Burgundy's vineyards, both Chambertin and Clos de Bèze have had numerous owners, twenty-three and eighteen respectively. Unfortunately, quality varies from producer to producer and, although Chambertin has been called "King of Wines," less accomplished winemakers do not always produce wines that fully live up to that reputation. The quality of wines from Clos de Bèze is considered higher and more consistent than those from Chambertin. The best wines from these two vineyards are quite powerful. They have concentrated fruit flavors, intense, rich, perfumed aromas, and long aging capabilities.

History

The Clos de Bèze vineyard was initially cleared and planted back in the 7th century by

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

s from the Abbey of Bèze, which owned the land.H. Johnson ''Vintage: The Story of Wine'' pg 132 Simon and Schuster 1989 Matt Kramer, ’Making sense of Burgundy’, William Morrow and company 1989, pg 127-130Alexis Lichine, Guide to the wines and vineyards of France, 3rd edition Papermac 1986 Legend has it that it was not until the 12th century that Chambertin itself was planted by a Monsieur Bertin, who felt that he could also make good wines if he grew the same grape varieties as his famous next-door neighbor. His vineyard was called Champ de Bertin ("Bertin's field") and later shortened to Chambertin. In 1702, Claude Jobert acquired both vineyards uniting both Chambertin and Clos de Bèze.H. Johnson ''Vintage: The Story of Wine'' pg 269-270 Simon and Schuster 1989 The Chambertin wines were one of Napoleon's favorites and it is said that he insisted that they be available to him even during his various military campaigns. According to Hazlitt, Chambertin was the only wine Napoleon drank during his reign as Emperor, "and he seldom drank it pure." Chambertin is the brief focus of a joke featured in the 1951 film ''

Love Nest ''Love Nest'' is a 1951 American comedy-drama film directed by Joseph Newman and starring June Haver, William Lundigan, Frank Fay, and Marilyn Monroe. The post-World War II comedy features an early supporting role for Monroe. It is one of ...

'' which costarred

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

in a supporting lead, though she is not present in the scene where the vintage is explicitly mentioned. The scene is set in a nightclub restaurant where "elderly Casanova" Charley Patterson ( Frank Fay) is once again attempting to swindle money from one of the many widowed dowagers he regularly courts. After they place their orders the waiter asks the couple if they would care for champagne with their dinner to which Charley declares nonchalantly; "Champagne is for peasants". The waiter then suggests Chambertin and adds that Charley has "excellent taste." Charley's date, oblivious and entranced, remarks that she does "admire a man who knows how to order..."

Production

In 2008, of vineyard surface was in production for Chambertin AOC, and 437 hectoliter of wine was produced under the Chambertin designation, corresponding to slightly less than 60,000 bottles.

AOC regulations

The main grape variety for Chambertin is Pinot noir. The AOC regulations also allow up to 15 per cent total of

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 ...

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 produces ...

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 grayish-blue fruit, accounting for its name, but the gr ...

as accessory grapes, but this is practically never used for any Burgundy Grand Cru vineyard. The allowed base yield is 35 hectoliter per hectare, a minimum planting density of 9,000 vines per hectare is required as well as a minimum grape maturity of 11.5 per cent

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.AOC regulations, last updated 2009
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Producers

Of the producers in Chambertin, the wines of Domaine Armand Rousseau generally command the highest prices. Rousseau owns in Chambertin, as well as a total of in four of the other "Chambertin" Grands Crus. Other vineyard owners with more than in Chambertin are

Domaine Jean-Louis Trapet An estate is a large parcel of land under single ownership, which would historically generate income for its owner. British context In the UK, historically an estate comprises the houses, outbuildings, supporting farmland, and woods that s ...

, Domaine Rossignol-Trapet and Camus Père et Fils. Between and 1 ha each is held by Louis Latour, Domaine Jacques Prieur and Domaine Leroy.

Overview of the "Chambertin" vineyards

Together, the nine "Chambertin" Grand Cru vineyards of Gevrey-Chambertin form a continuous area which roughly forms a rectangle by in size, situated just south of the town of Gevrey-Chambertin itself. In three of the vineyards, the producers are free to choose between two Grand Cru appellations. In general, Chambertin and Chambertin-Clos de Bèze are seen as one notch above the other seven Grands Crus in quality.Wine Doctor: Côte de Nuits Part 1
, accessed on December 1, 2009 This is also reflected in a small difference in the allowed yield, where Chambertin and Chambertin-Clos de Bèze are restricted to a base yield of 35 hl/ha, while the other seven are allowed 37 hl/ha.

References

{{coord, 47, 12, 41, N, 4, 57, 53, E, source:kolossus-frwiki, display=title Burgundy (historical region) AOCs