Clos Saint-Denis AOC

Grand Cru vineyard or appellation in the commune of Morey-Saint-Denis in the Burgundian Côte d'Or region. The name refers to Saint Dionysius of Paris (3rd century), in whose honour a religious community was founded in 1023, who owned vineyards here. The name Clos Saint-Denis was first mentioned in a document in 1367. After the French Revolution (1789), the church property was auctioned off. Today, most of it belongs to wineries from the commune. 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 ha), the site also includes the Climats Calouère (1.3 ha), Les Chaffots (1.3 ha) and Maison-Brûlée (1.8 ha). It consists of 37 plots shared by almost 20 owners. However, there was probably never a walled enclosure (which the Clos suggests). To the north lies the Grand Cru site Clos de la Roche, to the south the Grand Cru site Clos des Lambrays. The extremely long-lived red wine is made exclusively from Pinot Noir. However, Pinot Beurot (Pinot Gris) and Pinot Liébault are also permitted, 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