Burgundy - Key History

Question 1

South of which town does most of the Bourgogne region begin (excl. Chablis)?

Answer 1

Dijon

Question 2

Which regions lie within Bourgogne?

Answer 2

North to South - Chablis, Cote de Nuits, Cote de Beaune, Cote Chalonnaise, Maconnais and Beaujolais

Question 3

What is the earliest written signs of a wine trade in Burgundy ?

Answer 3

312AD when Emperor Constantine petitioned for tax reduction

Question 4

What did the Cistercian monks do in Burgundy in 1091?

Answer 4

They established their order in the area, planted Clos de Vougeot, before going on to delineate vineyard parcels (climats) based on how the wines tasted. TERROIR

Question 5

When is the first mention of Pinot Noir in Burgundy?

Answer 5

1370 is the first mention of it

Question 6

What did Philip le Hardi ban in Burgundy in 1391?

Answer 6

Banned Gamay

Question 7

When were the Napoleonic Laws of Inheritance imposed and what are they?

Answer 7

-a French law of succession stating the deceased’s property belongs to the whole extant family rather than one member like an eldest child. -the law came into being around the 1800s and caused the fragmentation of vineyard ownership

Question 8

How did négociants arise in the Burgundian trade structure?

Answer 8

Landowners couldn’t afford presses and bottling apparatus and so negociants bought their grapes, vinified them, bottled and sold the final wine.