“Ideally located slopes with perfect exposure to the rising sun!”
Between Ladoix-Serrigny and the hills of Maranges, the wine region of the Côte de Beaune stretches for 20 km from north to south. Oriented to the morning sun, the vineyards are no more than a few hundred meters wide. Red and white wines of international renown are produced here. Their reputation also radiates on the city of Beaune, the historic center of Burgundy.
A little further west, behind the Côte de Beaune, vineyards stretch out on a gently sloping plateau 400 meters above sea level. Here you are in the Hautes Côtes de Beaune. On the sunniest slopes, some twenty villages produce lively and accessible wines with the Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Beaune appellation.
The unique thing about the Côte de Beaune is that both white and red wines are made of an exceptional level. Around Beaune, Pinot Noir has mainly been planted in well-known municipalities such as Pommard and Volnay, while once south of this, the well-known "bande des blancs" is located with world-famous names such as Meursault, Chassagne-Montrachet, Puligny-Montrachet etc... From here come the best crus for white wines with roaring names such as Le Montrachet, Bâtard-Montrachet, Chevalier-Montrachet etc...
There is a nice legend about the 5 legendary Grand Crus of the hamlet of Montrachet that can be heard by Benoît Bachelet of the domain Jean-Claude Bachelet et Fils via the following LINK.
Did you know that in the Middle Ages, the Dukes of Burgundy really appreciated the lively temperament of the wines from the Côte de Beaune. Like the monks, they had a large share in the reputation of the wines. Back then, the wines from over there were still generally called “Vin de Beaune” or “Pinot Vermeil”. The latter referring to the grape from which the red wines were made.
This was also the case in the Côte de Nuits where the wines were described as “Vin de Nuits”. It was not until 1936 that the wines from Burgundy were classified according to the AOC system. Still, since the time of the monks, people knew where the best plots were.