The côte de Beaune (Côte de Beaune) – the southern half of the côte d’or, the key wine region of Burgundy, named for the main city of Beaune, the epicenter of the local wine trade.
Known on the world stage, primarily, rich white wines, most of which are labeled by the name “Montrachet”. But also a small number of top red, in particular, with the premiers CRUs vineyards of Pommard (Pommard) and Grand CRU Corton (Corton).
As in all of Burgundy, the white wines of the côte de Beaune – the Chardonnay and the red Pinot Noir.
The area under the vineyards of the côte de Beaune is a narrow strip of land of a width of less than 5 km, stretched for 25 km in a North-easterly direction, almost exactly the same size as the neighbor to the North of the côte de Nuits. Together they form what is called the côte d’or (Côte d’or) the Golden Slope, shallow limestone slope, a good wine and viticulture.
The importance of local topography cannot be overestimated: slope not only covers the vineyards of the côte de Beaune from the West winds, it is also good for its drainage characteristics and almost perfect SouthSouth-East exposure.
The most famous vineyards of the region located on the slopes of the côte d’or. Rich limestone soils and good illumination of these areas form an excellent terroir, features and capabilities that are meticulously studied by generations of winemakers. It is this familiarity with the land and understanding its potential, helped to bring the local vineyards is in the category of premiers and Grands CRUs.
The Eastern edge of the côte d’or drawn a neat line wine villages (communes), separated at times only a couple of miles, and entirely surrounded by vines. 18 of them have their own communal appellations (e.g. Puligny Montrachet, Pommard) with carefully calibrated list of premiers CRUs vineyards (e.g. Les Pucelles in Puligny-Montrachet and Les Rugiens in Pommard).
Individual vineyards are valued so highly, that it has its own grand cru appellations. All of them can be divided into two sections: the South, represented by different sections of Montrachet (of which the most prestigious is Le Montrachet), specializing in white wines, and the Northern hill of Corton (Corton), dedicated almost exclusively to red.
In addition to these appellations, concentrated on a fairly small territory of the communes and vineyards, there is another category of Bourgogne From the côte de Beaune (AOC Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Beaune): wider, with a more relaxed attitude to quality. Under this name the regulations allow for the production of red, white and rose wines from grapes from the entire region, but in practice, this label is used mainly producers not particularly prestigious vineyards of the Western part of the côte d’or.
There is another appellation of the côte de Beaune (Côte de Beaune AOC), from which it is logical to expect that it covers the whole region. But no. In fact, it relates to a narrow strip of the upper part of the slope above Beaune. The remaining 90% of the slope below this area, plus part of the flat territory, belong to the appellation Beaune (Beaune AOC). To find a clear official argument for the presence of this excess of education is quite difficult. Côte de Beaune AOC was established in 1937, 10 months after the emergence of AOC Beaune, are now little used.
The climate here is continental, with rainfall and temperatures slightly higher than in the côte de Nuits. However, the danger is spring frost, which can seriously harm the vineyards in the company of the ovary and kidney of flowering when they are particularly vulnerable. To combat the cold between the vines make a fire, and it looks very impressive.
El vineyards from frost
Another threat is hail and strong winds. In 2013, the storms, the winemakers had lost nearly 70% of the harvest. Unfortunately, this scourge can not do anything.
Although a dominant position in the vineyards of the côte de Beaune is a Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, there are also other varieties, in particular, Aligote, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris. The last two are allowed in the wines of most local appellations (even those that spetsializiruyutsya red), but due to low popularity of planting them is gradually reduced.
Source: portal wine-searcher.com
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