Wine
Regiions
Old World
France
Burgandy
Cote d'Or

COTE DE BEAUNE

Detailed Map

Cote de Beaune and Hautes-Cotes de Beaune

Softness and finesse are the main characteristics of these wines. They become more evident as the traveler progresses, south across the region. Although the Cote de Beaune has some fine red wines, its production is predominantly white and with seven of Burgundy's eight white Grands Crus, it is the place par excellence for the Chardonnay grape.

ENTERING COTE DE BEAUNE from the Nuits-St.-Georges end, the most immediate viticultural differences are its more expansive look and the much greater contrast between the deep, dark and so obviously rich soil found on the inferior eastern side of the RN 74 and the scanty patches of pebble strewn thick drift that cover the classic slopes west of the road.

It is often said that the slopes of the Cote de Beaune are gentler than those of the Cote de Nuits, but there are many parts chat are just as sheer, although the best vineyards of the Cote de Beaune are located on the middle slopes, which have a gender incline. The steeper, upper slopes produce good but generally lesser wines in all cases, except the vineyards of Aloxe-Corton, which is anyway more logically part of the Cote de Nuits than the Cote de Beaune. In fact, the Cote de Beaune begins with vineyards that are essentially Cote de Nuits and ends with those that are outside the Cote d Or and are really part of the Region de Mercurey The famous Hotel Dieu of Beaune, with its distinctive roof, gave rise to the charitable institution of the Hospices de Beaune wines.

Corton/Savigny
Beaune
Pommard
Volnay
Meaursault
Puligny-Montrachet/St-Aubin
Chassagne-Montrachet
Santenay