In my second entry on the famous communes of Burgundy, I am writing on Chambolle-Musigny. Once again, we see the double barreled name. Chambolle is the name of the commune. In 1882, as a marketing ploy, they added to their name that of their most famous vineyard, Musigny. The AOC of Chambolle-Musigny was created in 1936 and with that they also began allowing production of white Chardonnay wine within Musigny, but not within the rest of the vineyard. Strangely, it is the only Grand Cru in Côte de Nuits that may produce a white wine. Chambolle-Musigny primarily produces red Pinot Noir and these wines are renowned for their femininity. Located just south of Morey-Saint-Denis, the two share the Grand Cru Bonnes Mares.
Category: Burgundy
Morey-Saint-Denis
Morey-Saint-Denis is located in a section of the the Côte d’Ore called the Côte de Nuits. Within the commune, there are 20 Premier Crus and 5 Grand Crus. You can think of these as ratings that the land has been given for the quality of wine that it produces. At the top you have Grand, followed by Premier, then Village, and finally AOC Bourgogne or subregional appellations (for areas larger than a village and with less strict rules over quality). The appellation was created in 1936. Prior to the creation of Morey-Saint-Denis, wines from the region were sold under the names of it’s neighbors, Gevery-Chambertin or Chambolle-Musigny. There is a tradition of appending the name of the most prized vineyard within the appellation (Clos Saint Denis in this case), but Clos Saint Denis is not the most prized vineyard. That honor would go to Clos de la Roche. This is a topic of debate to this day. There are roughly 140 hectares of land in Morey-Saint-Denis