Burgundy General/History Flashcards
When is it believed Burgundy dates back to?
2,000 years ago. Celtic tribes likely cultivated vines in the region prior to the arrival of the Romans in 52 CE, who in turn planted numberous vineyards on the flat plains surrounding the site of Dijon.
When was the first written evidence of wines in Burgundy?
312 during the reign of Emperor Constantine.
Who were the first Burgundians?
Germanic barbarian tribesmen in 4igp36 as the Western Roman Empire crumbled; they embraced viticulture, expanding its practice onto the hillsides.
What were the two Catholic monastic orders of the middle ages/10th and 11th century, whom acquired vast holdings across Burgundy?
Benedictines and Cistercians.
What is “Clos de Cinq Journaux”?
It was the original vineyard name for modern day Romanée-Conti, given as a gift and owned by Benedictine’s Abbaye of Cluny in 1131.
What is the Abbaye of Cluny?
The Benedicticnes motherhouse built in 910 near Macon and by the 11th century the most richly endowed powerful monastery in the western world. The Benedictine monks amassed vineyards as far as England, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Poland. This included vineyards Champ Bertin (Chambertin) and “Clos de Cinq Journaux” (Romanée-Conti). As Benedictines’ power was on the wane, the Cistercians, was flourishing.
What is the Abbaye of Cîteaux?
The motherhouse of the Cistercian Order (a stricter offshoot of Benedictines) founded near Dijon in 1098. Under Cistercians, the first clos vineyards appeared. Their marquee vineyard was the Clos de Vougeot, acquired from the 12th through the 14th centuries. Musigny, Echézeaux, Richebourg, and Montrachet were all cultivated by Cistercian monks. They were also the first to produce Chablis.
What is défricheurs?
Land-clearers. The Cistercian order were known as this, as they expanded Burgundy’s agricultural landscape and laid the foundation for modern climats of Burgundy.
Define the following terms:
Moine Chapitre Chapelle Croix Prieur Abbaye
Define the following terms:
Moine- Monk Chapitre- Religious Chapter Chapelle- Chapel Croix- Cross Prieur- Priory Abbaye-Abbey
Who were the Dukes of Burgundy and what was their influence?
Burgundian wine became a status symbol with the Dukes of Valois, four generations of whom governed Burgundy from 1363 to 1477 and it was during this time that Beaune shot from obscurity to being regarded as the greatest wines of France. The dukes fought unsuccessfully to establish an autonomous kingdom from France.
Philip the Bold (1363-1404)-First documented mention of Pinot in 1375, requested a shipment of “vermeil Pinot” for English and French peace negotiators. Decreed the Gamay grape variety “disloyal” and harmful to humans. In the same ordinance he advocated planting Pinot Noir in Burgundy’s ten best vineyards.
John the Fearless (1404-1419)
Philip the Good (1419-1467)-published an ordinance 141 demanding removal of vines on flatlands east of Dijon and continued movement of vines to bonnes costes “good slopes”. Fearing for his immoratal soul has his Chancellor Nicolas Rolin establish Hospices de Beaune in 1443.
Charles the Bold (1467-1477)
What is the Hôtel-Dieu and the Hospice de Beaune and when were each established?
In 1443 Nicolas Rolin, Chancellor of Burgundy under Duke Philip the Good, founded the Hôtel-Dieu (“hospital of god”). This charity hospital received sick and poor free of charge, from the 1452 until 1971, the original Hôtel-Dieu building was restored as a museum.
In 1794—during the Revolution—the Hôtel-Dieu and several other religious charities in Burgundy were seized by the state, carrying their charitable missions forward under a new collective banner: les Hospices Civils de Beaune. Throughout the centuries, the institution has received many vineyard donations in Beaune and elsewhere in Burgundy. Today the domaine holds about 60 ha, making the Hospices de Beaune one of the largest vineyard owners in the region. Since 1859, they held an annual wine auction, occurring on the third Sunday of November. It is the central event of the Trois Glorieuses, a weekend-long celebration that kicks off with a Saturday event at the Château du Clos de Vougeot and concludes with the paulée of Meursault on Monday. Prior to 2005, only producers in Burgundy could participate in the auction; since that year, it is open to anyone, and nowadays the final label may additionally carry the name of the winning bidder.
What cuvées are found at the Hospices de Beaune?
Each year, the Hospices de Beaune produces nearly four-dozen red and white cuvées under labels like “Cuvée Nicholas Rolin,” “Cuvée Guigone de Salins,” and “Cuvée Dames de Flandres.” These wines are auctioned en primeur as whole barrels, from the current vintage, and are aged and bottled by other producers in Burgundy. Therefore, the final label will carry the name of the cuvée and the name of the négociant-éleveur—the producer who bought and bottled the wine.
https://www.guildsomm.com/research/compendium/w/france/1346.hospices-de-beaune-parcels-and-cuvees
Where does the word climat stem from?
Greek “klima”, referring to a site’s incline and exposure to the sun.
What was the first climat in Burgundy?
In 1691, a wine marked by climat (Chabertin) rather than town of origin arrived in cellars of Paris.
When was the first attempt to legally define appellations in Burgundy?
1776, a proposed law stipulated that wines bearing a town or climat or origin must be the product of that place.
When were the first classification of Burgundy wines and vines?
1831-Denis Blaise-Morelot completed the first seminal classification.
1855- Jules Lavalle’s seminal classification of Burgundy, Historie et statistique de la vigne et des grands vins de la Côte-d’Or “History and statistics of the vine and great wines of the Côte-d’Or”, supplanted Morelot’s, and became the benchmark classification of Burgundy’s climats in the 19th century, and would inform the development of Appellations d’Origine Contrôlées (AOCs) in the early 20th century.
—Lavalle’s 1855 map of the climats, refined and completed in 1860, established a quality hierarchy for climats and unlike the other famous 1855 classification, was based on the quality of the vineyards as opposed to Bordeaux’s classification based on price of wine.
When did phylloxera first strike Burgundy and where?
—1874 in Beaujolais, Villié-Morgon
—1878 in Meursault
—1887 in Chablis
What was the first Appellation d’Origine law in Burgundy and when?
—1919
—formally defined appellations and eliminated the practice of coupage (the process where different wines are blended together). This law was to combat fraudulent practices.
—Not unlike declaration of age for tawny port today, Burgundy wines prior to 1919 could be labeled with a particular village or climat based on taste profile alone.
When did Appellations d’Origine Contrôlées begin?
1936 and 1937, Burgundy’s first grand cru, village, and régional appellations were shrined into law. Premier cru geographic designations, while modeled on longstanding climats, would arrive in 1942
When was Côte d’Or approved for “World Heritage” by UNESCO?
2015.
When was the French Revoultion?
1789-1799
What is fermage?
Give a current day example.
A simple agreement in which the tenant paid cash to lease the land.
—Domaine de la Romanée Conti leases three separate vineyard parcels in Corton AOP
What is metayage?
Give a current day example.
A form of sharecropping, where one cultivates land for a proprietor and receives a portion of the produce.
—Roumier farms a parcel in Ruchottes-Chambertin AOP owned by Michel Bonnefond, producing the wine for both labels
What is primogeniture and when did it end in France?
The right of the firstborn son to inherit his family’s entire estate; ended by the Napoleonic Code in 1804 and set a new precedent: all male citizens would be henceforth equal under the law, and equal in inheritance. From this point forward, Burgundy estates would be split evenly among all male heirs and through the ensuing generations vineyard parcels continued to grow smaller and smaller
Who is the largest landownder in the Côte d’Or, with 130 ha of vines under its contro
Négociant Bouchard Père and Fils with 130 ha of vines under its control.
Louis Jadot owns over 150 ha, but not all parcels are within the Côte d’Or.
Give two examples of “micro-négociants”?
Domaine de Montille’s “Deux Montille” wines and Domaine Dujac’s “Dujac Fils & Père”
When did the first négociants in Burgundy appear?
Early 1700’s, a time when many Burgundy vineyards were still in the hands of lords and the Church.
Name 3 or 4 estates that spearheaded domain bottling in the 20th century.
Marquis d’Angerville Tollot-Beaut Henri Gouges Etienne Grivot Armand Rousseau
Who were the two key persuaders of domaine bottling? When
Raymond Baudoin, founder of the (still) influential publication La Revue du Vin de France and Frank Schoonmaker, a seminal American wine writer and importer in the 1920’s. Even so, domaine bottling remained rare until the 1980’s, when domaines became associated with high quality and care in the vineyard.
When did Côte d’Or adopt American rootstocks for grafting?
Late 1880’s
How did phylloxera ultimately allow the vineyards of Burgundy to assume their modern shape?
Orderly rows appeared, replacing the chaotic en foule (“in a crowd”), gobelet-trained vineyards of the past. As grafting became a necessity, the old method of replanting by provignage was rendered obsolete. The new vineyards of the Côte d’Or were trellised and head-trained chiefly in the single Guyot method, a cane-pruning system bearing one cane and one spur.
Who was the first biodynamic producer in Burgundy?
Name other biodynamic Burgundy producers.
Domaine Jean-Claude Rateau in 1979
Domaine Leroy, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Domaine Leflaive, Vincent Dauvissat, Comtes Lafon, and Comte Armand
Name three Burgundy vintages in the last twenty years affected by rot and mildew
2007, 2011, 2012
What are the four French departements Burgundy spans?
Yonne
Côte d’Or
Saône-et-Loire
Rhône
How many hectares does Burgundy contain (not including Beajolais)?
30,000 hectares
What parallel is the region of Burgundy positioned on?
Between 46-48° latitude. 47th parallel runs right through Volnay.
