The Winery Jean-Charles Fornerot of Côte de Beaune of Burgundy

Discovering the wine region of Côte de Beaune

The Côte de Burgundy/cote-de-beaune/beaune">Beaune is a key wine region in Burgundy, eastern France. It owes its name to its main town, Beaune - the epicentre of local wine production and trade. Renowned for producing some of the world's most expensive white wines (most of which bear the name Montrachet in one form or another), the region also produces a handful of Burgundy's finest red wines, including those from the premier crus Pommard and grand cru Corton. As with most Burgundy wines, the white wines are made from Hardonnay">Chardonnay, the reds from Pinot Noir.

The Côte de Beaune is a narrow strip of land less than 5 kilometers wide, extending 25 kilometers to the northeast. The main Vineyard of the Côte de Beaune is almost exactly the same Size and shape as its northern counterpart, the Côte de Nuits. Together, these two regions form the Côte d'Or, a region named after the Côte d'Or and characterized by the Côte d'Or limestone escarpment that forms its backbone. The importance of this escarpment to Côte de Beaune viticulture is hard to underestimate; not only does it protect the vineyards from the prevailing westerly winds, but it also provides gently sloping, free-draining vineyard sites with near-perfect South and southeast aspects.