Clos Saint-Denis AOC

Grand Cru vineyard or appellation in the municipality of Morey-Saint-Denis in the French Côte d'Or region of Burgundy. The name refers to Saint Dionysius of Paris (3rd century), in whose honour a religious community was founded in 1023, which owned vineyards here. The name Clos Saint-Denis was first mentioned in a document in 1367. After the French Revolution (1789), the ecclesiastical property was auctioned off. Today, most of it belongs to vineyards from the municipality. It was classified as a Grand Cru in 1936. The vineyard at around 300 metres above sea level covers 6.6 hectares of vines on brown, calcareous marl with a relatively small proportion of stones.

In addition to the historic Clos Saint-Denis (2.1 hectares), the site also includes the Climats Calouère (1.3 hectares), Les Chaffots (1.3 hectares) and Maison-Brûlée (1.8 hectares). It consists of 37 plots shared by almost 20 owners. However, there was probably never a walled enclosure (which the term Clos refers to). The Clos de la Roche grand cru vineyard lies to the north, with the Clos des Lambrays grand cru vineyard to the south. This extremely long-lasting red wine is made exclusively from Pinot Noir. However, Pinot Beurot (Pinot Gris) and Pinot Liébault are also authorised, and theoretically up to 15% Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc could also be used. Well-known producers are Charlopin, Dujac, Jadot, Lignier and Domaine Ponsot.

Image: By Arnaud 25 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link