A clos (French 'enclosure' [1] ) is a walled vineyard. [2] Walled vineyards protected the grapes from theft and may improve the mesoclimate. They were often the vineyards of Cistercian monasteries. The word is often used in the name of famous wines even when the wall no longer exists.
Burgundy wine is made in the Burgundy region of eastern France, in the valleys and slopes west of the Saône, a tributary of the Rhône. The most famous wines produced here, and those commonly referred to as "Burgundies," are dry red wines made from pinot noir grapes and white wines made from chardonnay grapes.
Clos de Vougeot, also known as Clos Vougeot, is a wall-enclosed vineyard, a clos, in the Burgundy wine region, and an Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) for red wine from this vineyard. It was named for the River Vouge, which is in fact only a stream separating the village Vougeot from Chambolle-Musigny. At 50.6 hectares, Clos de Vougeot is the largest single vineyard in Côte de Nuits entitled to the grand cru designation, while Corton in Côte de Beaune is the largest grand cru in Burgundy as a whole.
The Côte de Nuits is a French wine region located in the northern part of the Côte d'Or, the limestone ridge that is at the heart of the Burgundy wine region. It extends from Dijon to just south of Nuits-Saint-Georges, which gives its name to the district and is the regional center. Though some white and rosé wines are produced in the region, the Côte de Nuits is most famous for reds made from pinot noir. The Côte de Nuits covers fourteen communes. Six produce grand cru wines, in the central district between Gevrey-Chambertin and Nuits-Saint-Georges, with four lesser villages either side. The Grand Crus of the Côte de Nuits are some of the smallest appellations in France, less than a hectare in the case of La Romanée.
The Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin is an exclusive Bacchanalian fraternity of Burgundy wine connoisseurs.
Romanée-Conti is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) and Grand Cru vineyard for red wine in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy, France, with Pinot noir as the primary grape variety. It is situated within the commune of Vosne-Romanée and is a monopole of the winery Société Civile du Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, which takes its name after this vineyard. Romanée-Conti borders on La Romanée in the west, Richebourg in the north, Romanée-Saint-Vivant in the east and La Grande Rue in the south. The AOC was created in 1936.
Échezeaux is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) and Grand Cru vineyard for red wine in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy, with Pinot noir as the main grape variety. Échezeaux is located within the commune of Flagey-Echézeaux, on a strip of land between the territory of the communes Vosne-Romanée, Vougeot and Chambolle-Musigny. Échezeaux borders on the Clos de Vougeot and its wall as well as Grands Échezeaux in the east, on Chambolle-Musigny vineyards in the north, some Vosne-Romanée vineyards in the west and on the Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru vineyard Les Suchots in the south. The AOC was created in 1937.
Grands Échezeaux is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) and Grand Cru vineyard for red wine in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy, with Pinot noir as the main grape variety. Grands Échezeaux is located within the commune of Flagey-Echézeaux, on a strip of land between the territory of the communes Vosne-Romanée, Vougeot and Chambolle-Musigny. Grands Échezeaux borders on Clos de Vougeot and its wall in the east and north, and on Échezeaux in the west and south. The AOC was created in 1936.
Mareuil-sur-Ay is a former commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France. Since January 2016, Mareuil-sur-Aÿ is part of the administrative commune Aÿ-Champagne. Its population was 1,113 in 2019.
Le Mesnil-sur-Oger is a commune in the Marne department in the Grand Est region in north-eastern France.
Clos de l'Oratoire is a Bordeaux wine from the appellation Saint-Émilion, ranked Grand cru classé in the Classification of Saint-Émilion wine. The winery is located in the Right Bank of France’s Bordeaux wine region in the commune of Saint-Émilion, in the department Gironde.
The classification of Champagne vineyards developed in the mid-20th century as a means of setting the price of grapes grown through the villages of the Champagne wine region. Unlike the classification of Bordeaux wine estates or Burgundy Grand cru vineyards, the classification of Champagne is broken down based on what village the vineyards are located in. A percentile system known as the Échelle des Crus acts as a pro-rata system for determining grape prices. Vineyards located in villages with high rates will receive higher prices for their grapes than vineyards located in villages with a lower rating. While the Échelle des Crus system was originally conceived as a 1-100 point scale, in practice, the lowest rated villages are rated at 80%. Premier crus villages are rated between 90 and 99 percent while the highest rated villages, with 100% ratings are Grand crus.
Aÿ-Champagne is a commune in the Marne department, northern France. The municipality was established on 1 January 2016 and consists of the former communes of Aÿ, Mareuil-sur-Ay, and Bisseuil. They keep their names and town halls.
Gevrey-Chambertin wine is produced in the communes of Gevrey-Chambertin and Brochon in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy. The Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) Gevrey-Chambertin may be used only for red wine with Pinot noir as the main grape variety. There are nine Grand Cru vineyards within the commune of Gevrey-Chambertin, Chambertin and eight others called Chambertin in combination with something else, such as Chapelle-Chambertin. While Gevrey-Chambertin also has several highly regarded Premier Cru vineyards, it has a particularly large amount of vineyards at the village level for a Côte de Nuits appellation. This is because the vineyards of the AOC stretch further to the east than in most neighbouring AOCs.
Champagne hillsides, houses and cellars is the name given to several sites in the Champagne region of France inscribed to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2015 for their historical ties to the production and sale of champagne, as well as their testimony to the development of an internationally-renowned agro-industrial enterprise.
