Beaune

Regarded as the capital of Burgundy wine, Beaune saw the négoce grow in the eighteenth century and carry its wines across France and abroad, and it is still home to most of the négociant houses, courtiers, and regional trade bodies. In 1443 Nicolas Rolin and Guigone de Salins founded the Hôtel-Dieu here, the hospital from which the Hospices de Beaune grew; every year they sell the wines of their domaine at a charity auction, traditionally held on the third Sunday of November.

The appellation, created in 1936, includes only vines within the commune. There are no Grands Crus, but the 42 Premiers Crus, about three-quarters of the area in production in 2022, follow one another along the hillside behind the town, from Les Marconnets in the north to Les Epenotes and the Clos des Mouches in the south.

The slope faces mainly east and southeast, but where a deep dry valley and small combes cut into it, some vines turn to the south, southwest, or east-northeast. The hillside rests on Jurassic limestones; the soils, thin and free-draining higher up, become more clayey and deeper lower down.

In 2022 more than 80% of the vines in production yielded red wine, from Pinot Noir; the rest yielded whites, generally from Chardonnay. According to Burgundy's interprofessional wine body, wines from the northern part, toward Savigny-lès-Beaune, tend to be more intense and powerful, those from the southern part, toward Pommard, softer and fuller. Beaune also lies within the core zone of the Climats du vignoble de Bourgogne, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2015.