Burgundy Village

On the ladder of Burgundy appellations, the Village level is the second rung, just above regional appellations such as Bourgogne. It comprises 44 communal appellations, which generally bear the name of a commune: Gevrey-Chambertin and Nuits-Saint-Georges in the Côte de Nuits, Pommard and Meursault in the Côte de Beaune, Mercurey in the Côte Chalonnaise. The Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune account for 29 of them, including Côte de Nuits-Villages, which groups several communes under a single name.

Each appellation corresponds to an area of vines delimited by the INAO, which sometimes extends beyond the commune's boundaries: Gevrey-Chambertin's, for example, also includes vines in Brochon. Within many of these areas the Premier Cru climats are mapped out separately, more than six hundred across Burgundy. Legally, they are not appellations in their own right but a designation that completes the communal one: that is why, on the label, the name of the climat always comes right after that of the commune.

A Village wine may come from several parcels within the same appellation or from a single lieu-dit, whose name may appear on the label. In the Gevrey-Chambertin and Volnay rules, for example, that name must be printed in letters no more than half the height and width of the appellation's, whereas the name of a Premier Cru climat may be the same size.

The Côte's first communal appellations date from 1936. Today, together with the Premiers Crus, Village wines account for just under half of the wine produced in Burgundy. The reds are based on Pinot Noir and the whites on Chardonnay, with a few exceptions such as the Aligoté of Bouzeron and the Sauvignon of Saint-Bris. You'll find the available bottles below.