Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru

The Chambertin-Clos de Bèze appellation rules describe it as the earliest Burgundian cru on record: as early as 640 the vineyard appears among the holdings of the abbey of Bèze. In 1219 it passed to the canons of Langres, who for a long time held it together with neighboring Chambertin as a single property. The name keeps the word clos, meaning a walled vineyard, even though the enclosure disappeared long ago.

The Grand Cru covers about 15 hectares just north of Chambertin, at the same east-facing foot of the slope: hard Bajocian limestones and marls under a thin mantle of stony debris, clays, and red silts. Between the late seventeenth and late eighteenth centuries, when wines bearing the name of their climat began to appear on the market, the Clos de Bèze was among the first, selling at ever higher prices.

Two court rulings, in 1931 and 1932, settled the use of the name: wines from the Clos de Bèze may be released as Chambertin-Clos de Bèze or simply as Chambertin, while those from Chambertin may not use the name Clos de Bèze. The appellation dates from 1937. These are concentrated, elegant reds from Pinot Noir, built for long aging.