Bourgogne

The vineyards of Bourgogne produce some great wines with a historical and international reputation. However, the region is not simply limited to its iconic appellations. In addition to its Village Premier Cru and Grand Cru AOCs, it also produces a range of wonderful Régionale and Village appellations to explore.


You will also find a full list of the Bourgogne’s Climats and lieux-dits on this page.


Check out the complete list of the 84 Bourgogne appellations.

However, your exploration has only just begun. Bourgogne wines have never before offered such high quality. Besides our range of internationally celebrated wines, try some of our lesser-known appellations where there are lots of surprises in store.

And for a fun way to find out more about the wines on offer, try out our “Which Bourgogne wine is right for me?” quiz, or check out Bourgogne Maps to take an interactive tour of the region.

  • Category

    Regional appellation

  • Wine-producing region

    APPELLATIONS SUR PLUSIEURS VIGNOBLES

  • Creation of the appellation

    July 31, 1937

  • Colour

    Reds and rosés - Pinot Noir, with some César the Yonne.
    The Pinot Noir is a native Burgundian grape which accounts for 35% of total plantings in Bourgogne. It yields handsome, tightly-packed bunches of small, purplish-black grapes which contain a sweet and colourless juice.
    This illustrious grape is the one from which all the great red wines of Bourgogne are made.
     


    White wines - Chardonnay.
    The Chardonnay grape (which makes up 48% of the total plantings in Bourgogne) yields handsome bunches of small, golden, elongated grapes, rich in white, deliciously sweet juice. This famous grape variety gives birth to all of Bourgogne’s great white wines.
    The appellation Bourgogne is also applied to red and rosé wines.
     

  • White :

    Area under production*:
    1 hectare (ha) = 10,000 m² = 24 ouvrées.
    854.19 ha approx.

    Red :

    Area under production*:
    1 hectare (ha) = 10,000 m² = 24 ouvrées.
    1,854.93 ha approx.
     

  • Regional appellation of Bourgogne.
    The appellation BOURGOGNE is restricted to wines grown within the defined area of this appellation.
    Producing communes :
    Department of Yonne : 54 communes.
    Department of Côte-d'Or : 91 communes.
    Department of Saône-et-Loire : 154 communes.

Wine Characteristics - Bourgogne

Wine
Characteristics

Red wine : A wine grown in so many different villages obviously has a host of different ways of seducing the senses, yet these wines nevertheless share many common traits.
To the eye, they are richly coloured - crimson at first then, with age, shading towards dark ruby. To the nose they offer at first a basket of small red and black fruits (strawberry, cherry, blackcurrant, bilberry) later evolving into cooked prune, peppery notes, and notes of animal, underbrush, moss and mushroom. They are lively and structured in the mouth with a well-rounded and supple backbone. Tannins and fruit go hand in hand and the chewiness matches the power of the secondary aromas. This wine has volume and flesh- it is, in a word, vinous.
 


White wine : Light golden colour, limpid and crystalline, often with greenish highlights.
In the Yonne, Bourgogne blanc often develops aromas of gunflint or field mushroom. In the Côte-d’Or it is hazelnut with a hint of honey, butter, bracken, spices and sugared chestnuts. In the Saône-et-Loire notes of white flowers (hawthorn, acacia) and flint abound. On the palate it is aromatic, delicate but not over-light, full without being heavy, unctuous and firm, dry and caressing, well-rounded and quite deep, not overly structured yet persistent.
 

Wine Steward’s Tip - Bourgogne

Wine
Steward’s Tip

Red wine : The Bourgognes rouges have an elegant and refined character as well as a light and fluid structure in the mouth. They therefore go with rather delicate dishes that are to some degree aromatic - vegetable salads, meat or poultry tarts, or simmered beef and vegetables (pot-au-feu). Moreover, their delicacy makes them a perfect choice for those who like red wine with fish. Their natural elegance predisposes them towards veal, cold tabouleh, or hard cheeses like Gouda.
Serving temperature:  12 to 14°C for young wines, 14 to 16°C for older wines.
 


White wine : In the mouth, Bourgogne blanc has the knack of making allies of opposites and this adaptability makes it indispensable when planning meals. Its sprightliness makes it a delicate and tasty pre-dinner drink while its wideranging and persistent aromatic spectrum (thanks to the Chardonnay grape) makes it a team player in the kitchen, especially with fish and shellfish. Its native power enables it to prevail over onion tarts as well as over a wide variety of soft and hard cheeses such as Brie, Vacherin, Saint-Nectaire, Mont-d’Or, Beaufort, Comté and all varieties of Gruyère.
Serving temperature: 11 to 13°C.
 

Situation - Bourgogne

Situation

Bourgogne rouge comes from the Pinot Noir grape whose name can be traced back as far as 1375 and which gives birth to all the great red wines of Bourgogne. It is delicate, highly valued and needs careful looking after during the growing season. The appellation Bourgogne rouge dates from 1937 and is grown in 299 communes throughout wine-growing Bourgogne.
It evokes images of plenitude and makes a fine starting point for further explorations into the world of red wines.

Bourgogne blanc is a success story. It brings out the best of the Chardonnay grape, now grown everywhere but whose native home is Bourgogne and which finds here its most sublime expression (Montrachet, Meursault, Chablis, Corton-Charlemagne, Pouilly-Fuissé...). The Bourgogne AOC, authorised in 1937, extends to the three departments of Yonne, Côte-d’Or and Saône-et-Loire.
This entry-level wine opens the way to the appellations Villages, Premiers Crus and Grands Crus. Though the raw material is the same in all cases, the Chardonnay grape creates a diverse spectrum of sensations which vary according to its provenance, the age of the vines and the particular vintage.
 

Terroirs - Bourgogne

Terroirs

Red wine : In many cases the regional red Bourgogne grow and flourish near more prestigious AOC. These close neighbours are separated by only hundreds or sometimes even as little as tens of metres. The vineyards tend to be located along the foot of the wine-growing slopes on limestone soils mixed with some clays and marls. The soils are stony, rocky even, and quick-draining.


White wine : This wine is mostly grown on sites at the foot of the slopes but the nature of the soil varies according to each geographical situation. In the Côte-d’Or the soils are whitish or light grey marls and marly limestones, deep and not especially stony. The Yonne, in contrast, offers sloping calcareous sites, sometimes chalky as in the Tonnerrois district or on Kimmeridgian limestone as in Chablis and the Auxerrois, while in the Côte Chalonnaise and Mâconnais the broken landscape begets soils composed of limestone, clay and marl, plus, in the southern Saône-et-Loire, a granitic component.

 

 

 

 

Search on the map
This text will be replaced
Top