Vougeot AOC

Municipal appellation 16 kilometres south of Dijon in the Côte d'Or area. It has just under 200 inhabitants, but is one of the most famous wine-growing communes in Burgundy. The name is derived from the Vouge stream that flows through the village. It was here that Cistercian monks planted the famous Clos de Vougeot vineyard in the 14th century and enclosed it with a high, kilometre-long wall in 1330. It is the only Grand Cru site and covers 50 hectares of vines. The four Premiers Crus cover 14 hectares of vines, the first of which is for white wine. These are Le Clos Blanc de Vougeot ( monopoly owned by Domaine de la Vougeraie, belongs to the large family business Boisset), Clos de la Perrière, Les Crâs and Les Petits de Vougeots. Only from just under five hectares are wines marketed under the Vougeot village appellation.

The white wines are mainly made from the Chardonnay variety, with smaller quantities of Pinot Blanc and Pinot Beurot (Pinot Gris) where appropriate, and the red wines are mainly made from the Pinot Noir variety, with smaller quantities of Pinot Beurot and Pinot Liébault where appropriate. For the red wine, it is permitted to also use the authorised white wine varieties up to a maximum of 15%. The Château du Clos de Vougeot (former Cistercian vineyard), located in the middle of the vineyards of the Clos du Vougeot, hosts the traditional annual meeting of the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin (Wine Brotherhood) as part of "Les Trois Glorieuses" (Three Glorious Days). A mill dating from the 16th century is also worth seeing. Well-known producers are Domaine Bertagna, Mongeard-Mugneret and Vougeraie.

Château: © Bénédecite MANIERE and Jean-Louis BERNUY