Côte de Nuits

French wine region
The Côte de Nuits (kot də nɥi) 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. Among the northern villages of the Côte de Nuits there are several distinct terroirs. Uniquely in Burgundy, Marsannay la Côte produces wine of all three colors red and rosé from Pinot Noir, white from Chardonnay. The of the Marsannay appellation extends into Couchey and Chênove. The village of Fixin has its own appellation, but the area of Brochon Côte de Nuits Villages extends into the commune with of premier cru vineyards out of of Pinot Noir and of Chardonnay. The village of Gevrey Chambertin has more Grand Crus than any other village, with nine. Chambertin and its extension Chambertin Clos de Beze are widely recognized for the quality of their red Burgundy. The other Grand Crus are Mazis Chambertin, Chapelle Chambertin, Charmes Chambertin, Mazoyeres Chambertin, Griotte Chambertin, Latricieres Chambertin and Ruchottes Chambertin. Morey Saint Denis is a small commune with four Grand Crus: Clos de la Roche, Clos St. Denis, Clos des Lambrays and Clos de Tart. Also among the northern villages, the vineyard soils of Chambolle are particularly chalky, giving the wines a lighter body and finer edge of aromas that complements the usual Côte de Nuits backbone of flavor notes. A little white wine is also made in this area. Wines labelled with Chambolle Premier Cru are usually a blend of some of the 19 individual vineyard Premier Crus, of which only Les Amoureuses and Les Charmes are commonly seen. The Grand Crus are Bonnes Mares (which spills over into Morey Saint Denis) and Musigny. The village of Vougeot has just one Grand Cru vineyard Clos Vougeot that is massive by Burgundy standards, and produces three times as much wine as the rest of the commune. But the variation in terroir over its , and the different winemaking styles of its 75+ owners, mean that wines labeled with the vineyard name Clos Vougeot show as much variation as the wines from entire communes elsewhere. The village of Flagey is best known for its Grand Crus of Grands Echézeaux and Echézeaux; its Premier Crus are sold under the label of Vosne Romanée. Vosne contains some of the most famous names in the wine world, notably Romanée Conti and La Tâche AOC, two monopoles of the Domaine de la Romanée Conti. The other Grand Crus are Richebourg, La Romanée (the smallest AOC in France, at 2 acres/0.84 hectares), Romanée St. Vivant and La Grand Rue. Amidst the southern villages, Nuits Saint Georges the largest town in the region with producers often selling their wine to the north. The local wines are most of 'Villages' quality, and need longer aging in the cellar than most Burgundies of similar quality. Wines from Premeaux Prissey are sold under the Nuits Saint Georges appellation and as Côte de Nuits Villages. Comblanchien gives its name to the seam of limestone in the middle of the Côte d'Or. Its wine is sold as Côte de Nuits Villages. The southernmost village of Corgoloin is also covered by the Côte de Nuits Villages appellation.

The early history of the Côte de Nuits is wrapped up in the history of the greater Cote d'Or. The Romans were the first to introduce viticulture into the area during their settlement of Gaul sometime during the 3rd century AD. Breaking away from the typical Roman style of planting near rivers, the Romans encouraged their allies in the area, the Aedui to plant vines on the narrow strip of land that was located to the east of their settlement at Augustodunum. It was this area, known asPagus Arebrignus, that was to eventually be subdivided into the Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune. When the area was under attack from the Alamans and other Germanic tribes, the Romans sought the help of a Baltic tribe known as the Burgundians who would eventually settle into the area and give the region its name. In 312 AD, Emperor Constantine visited the region, where his orator described the difficulties of cultivating vines there. While the quality of the wine was the envy of the empire, the emperor was told, the vines can only be planted on a narrow patch of land between marshy plains and infertile rocky hilltops, where winter frost would often devastate the crops. Taking the wine down from the côte in fragile wooden barrels was a treacherous ordeal along pothole filled roads, with many barrels being broken and lost along the way. The orator also described a scene of tangled old vines and knotted roots dotted along the vineyard, a likely sign that the ancient Burgundians practiced the vine propagation method of provignage or layering. Wine merchants in the Côte de Nuits latched onto this royal association as a great marketing coup over the region's rivals in Champagne and Bordeaux. The 18th century ushered in a period of tête de cuvée of wines made solely from the best grapes produced in single vineyards. To add to the distinctiveness of these wines, new winemaking techniques such as extended maceration and longer fermentations became popular. This produced dark, tannic vin de garde wines that required extended periods of aging. Imitation of this style by producers using lower quality of grapes saw producers use various methods of adulteration such as adding honey to the wine in order to increase the sugar and, consequently, the alcohol level of the wine. Following Jean Antoine Chaptal's, Napoleon's Minister of the Interior, recommendation to use the method now known as chaptalization to boost alcohol levels, the market was flooded with Burgundy wines from the Côte de Nuits and beyond that were dark, dense and highly alcoholic.