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Côte d’Or Wine Region

Celebrating the Great Wines of Côte d’Or

This region, which is found to be stretching from the Dijon to the Dheune River in the north-south direction, is home to a few of the great names of Burgundy wines.

Are you thinking about Pinot Noir and Chardonnay? Well, then it’s impossible for you to forget about the two areas within the world-famous Burgundy wine region.

They are the Côte de Nuits and the Côte de Beaune. These important wine areas of Burgundy are found to be lying in the Côte d’Or, which is a limestone escarpment that lends its name to the Côte d’Or Department.

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Let’s see about the viticulture and viniculture in the Côte d’Or here…

Overview of Côte d’Or as a Viticultural Zone

In spite of being a small region covering a narrow strip of 50 kilometres, the Côte d’Or is found to be the most important and popular viticultural zone in the Burgundy region.

The history of winemaking in this region can be dated back to the ancient times around 200 B.C.

The Côte d’Or viticultural region is home to four wine areas, of which the aforementioned ones are the most famous ones.

Geographically speaking, Côte d’Or falls in the northern part of Burgundy. As such, the northern part of Côte d’Or is defined by the Côte de Nuits wine area whereas; the southern part is defined by the Côte de Beaune.

Limestone soil composition

When it comes to the soil composition, we can see that most of the Côte d’Or is made up of limestone and is particularly favourable for the cultivation of the regions signature grape varieties: Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

The vineyards from which the regions Premier Cru and Grand Cru wines are coming are all found to be planted at the heights of 250 to 300 meters above the sea level.

Although the major grape varieties of Côte d’Or are Pinot noir and Chardonnay, the other grape varieties like Aligoté and Gamay can also be seen here.

Now, let’s see in detail about the two famous wine areas of Côte d’Or here:

Côte de Nuits
This region, which forms the northern half of Côte d’Or, is specializing in the production of Burgundy red wines.

Almost 95% of the wines that are being produced in this region are coming from the single grape variety, Pinot Noir.

And, the remaining 5% is produced from another signature variety of the region, Chardonnay and from some other varieties like Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc.

While the southern part of Côte d’Or is found to be more prolific and wider, this region is found to be concentrating much on its quality than quantity.

Thus, it is home to 24 of 32 Grand Cru appellations of Burgundy. The red wines from this region are found to be having a higher structure along with great organoleptic qualities.

Côte de Beaune
This region, which forms the southern half of Côte d’Or, is famous for producing some of the costliest white wines in the world.

This is a narrow strip of land and its vineyard area is found to be more or less the same size as that of Côte de Nuits.

The most significant vineyards of this region are found to be lying on the slopes and here, the soils are found to be rich in limestone.

Just like the northern half, here too, the major grape varieties are Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
The white wines from this region are found to be rich in organoleptic characteristics and body and contain some exotic aromas.

Apart from these varieties, some other grape varieties like Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, and Aligote are also cultivated here. These are found to be used in the production of local appellation wines.

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Author

Tharani Rajamanickam

Tharani Rajamanickam

Winewriter

I am Tharani, I have Bachelors degree in Biotechnology. I am passionate about the wine industry and continue to explore, learn and share and I bring in a wealth of knowledge and expertise to help you keep updated with best wines in the world. Stay tuned..

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