Sainte-Marie-la-Blanche is the PGI title for red, white and rosé wines that are produced in a region of CentralBurgundy, just east of the Côte de Beaune. The catchment area of the PGI roughly mirrors the Length of the Côte de Beaune, only a few kilometres to the east and on the lower, flatter floor of the valley that borders the Saône. A total of 20 small parishes in the South of the Côte d'Or department are covered by the title of Sainte-Marie-La-Blanche, which surrounds the Village of the same name located just 6. 5 km south-east of Beaune.
The area specified extends for about 25 km from Bonnencontre in the North to the northern tip of Saint-Loup-Geanges in the south of the department of Saône-et-Loire. This is the land beyond the lowest slopes of the Côte d'Or escarpment and does not even qualify for the regional appellation of Burgundy. The slopes just to the west are a patchwork of highly prized vineyards with names like Montrachet and Corton. But here the land is flatter, more fertile and better suited to cultivation.
This is not to say that no vines are planted here, nor that quality wine is not produced.
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When you have an idea that, in your first flush of inspiration, you think deserves to get beyond the breakfast table, you run straight into the modern dilemma. Is it a Tweet? Is it one for Facebook or Instagram? Should you just try it out on your nearest and dearest, or is there a book in it? A slim volume, or does it need several tomes to expound its profundity? My trade being what it is, and royalties being as modest as they are these days, I’ve rather given up on books. Writing new ones, that ...
