Clos de Vougeot

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Clos de Vougeot with its castle
Clos de Vougeot 1994

Clos de Vougeot is the name of a vineyard on the Côte d'Or north of Beaune in Burgundy / France . The red wine produced there is classified as Grand Cru and therefore has its own appellation . In contrast to the vineyard, the spellings Clos-Vougeot or Clos Vougeot are used for wine .

classification

With an area of ​​50.97 hectares, the Clos de Vougeot is the largest grand cru location in the Côte de Nuits , while the Corton vineyard in the Côte de Beaune further south is the largest grand cru location in Burgundy. The place Vougeot and the vineyard were named after the small brook Vouge that separates Vougeot from Chambolle-Musigny .

The name means "closed / walled garden (→ Clos ) of the castle / abbey Vougeot". Although the vineyard is one of the famous Grand Cru locations, it is actually an example of the difficulty of the Burgundian location classification .

As a rule, a Grand Cru site always has the potential to deliver top-quality wine ; it then depends on the working methods of the respective winery , which owns a parcel of a Grand Cru location, whether the finest wine is actually made from it. Precisely because only a very good wine can result from an excellent location, it is important to be able to precisely assess the reputation of the respective winery.

The Chevalier du Tastevin wine brotherhood

16 Chapitres are held every year at the Château Clos de Vougeot. I.a. one of the three famous events of the "Trois Glorieuses" - the "Three Glory Days" of Burgundy (14th Chapitre, mid-November). These are meetings of the Chevaliers du Tastevin , the brotherhood or knighthood of wine tasters. Twice a year, in spring - mid-March and in autumn - end of September, the tastevinage (anonymous wine tasting) is held in the Cistercian wine cellar. Since 2007, the “Festival Musique & Vin” has been celebrated in the Clos de Vougeot every 10 days in June. In addition, the literary prizes (“Prix du Tastevin”) are awarded every September at Château Clos de Vougeot. This wine brotherhood , which was initially founded in 1934 out of economic interests, is one of the most exclusive societies in the world: You are invited to membership if you own a vineyard in one of the Grand Cru locations and you have proven over years of work as a winemaker, the good Burgundy wine and to promote table culture. The brotherhood also recruits well-known artists, military officials, entrepreneurs and politicians for membership. You cannot apply, you are honored to be asked to become a member.

In the movie Babette's Feast , a Clos de Vougeot is the vintage 1846 served. Karen Blixen's novel , however, speaks of the year 1845.

history

Historically, the Clos de Vougeot is particularly interesting because today's Clos de Vougeot Castle used to be a grangie of the Cîteaux Abbey , from where the Cistercian order originated. The vineyard in its present form was built between the 12th and 14th centuries. The first documented donations of land took place between the years 1109 and 1115. In 1336, the entire vineyard was enclosed. The monks are said to have carried out the first scientific experiments in their vineyards as to which grape varieties are best suited for cultivation on which soils, and how the vines should be treated, cut, fertilized, etc. The present castle was built under the impetus of Dom Loisier in 1551. The vineyard remained in the possession of the monastery until the French Revolution in 1789. The reputation of the Clos de Vougeot is documented, among other things, by a directory of the Louis XVI wine cellar . The Clos de Vougeot traded there alongside Chambertin , Richebourg , La Tâche and Romanée-Saint-Vivant .

In Revolutionary France , the Church's properties were declared national goods and auctioned. The Clos de Vougeot was auctioned off as a whole. The site remained as a unit for almost 100 years, but changed hands frequently. In 1818 Julien-Jules Ouvrard acquired Clos de Vougeot. A year later he also acquired the well-known Romanée-Conti vineyard . After his death, Clos de Vougeot was divided among his three heirs, but continued to be farmed as a whole. In 1882 the vineyard was finally destroyed by phylloxera and later replanted. In 1889 six Burgundian wine merchants took over the property. The wine merchant Leonce Bocquet alone acquired around 15 hectares of vineyards next to the castle.

In 1920 the politician and winemaker Etienne Camuzet bought the chateau and made the premises available to the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin. On November 29, 1944, Camuzet sold the building to the newly founded Société civile des Amis du Château du Clos de Vougeot , which granted the Confrérie a 99-year right of use.

Location, climate and soil

The climate is assigned to the Burgundian transitional climate , in which continental influences predominate over maritime ones. The mostly dry and hot summers allow the Pinot Noir to ripen, but great vintages are only created if there is no rain in autumn to impair the harvest. Due to the eastern location, the microclimate is relatively cool, but particularly sunny.

For the northern city of Dijon (316 m), the following data applied between 1961 and 1990:

month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec year
Mean minimum temperatures ° C −1 0.1 2.2 5 8.7 12 14.1 13.7 10.9 7.2 2.5 −0.2 6.3
Average temperatures ° C 1.6 3.6 6.5 9.8 13.7 17.2 19.7 19.1 16.1 11.3 5.6 2.3 10.5
Mean maximum temperatures ° C 4.2 7th 10.8 14.7 18.7 22.4 25.3 24.5 21.3 15.5 8.6 4.8 14.8
Mean monthly rainfall (mm) 49.2 52.5 52.8 52.2 86.3 62.4 51 65.4 66.6 57.6 64.2 62 732.2
Source: Archives climatologiques mensuelles - for Dijon (1961–1990)

In 2007:

month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec year
Average temperatures ° C 5.3 6.4 6.9 14.7 15.6 18.5 18.7 18.2 14.4 10.7 5.3 1.6 11.3
Source: Average temperatures at the measuring point in Dijon in 2007

The following data were collected in 2008:

month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec year
Average temperatures ° C 3.8 4.7 6.3 9.1 15.8 17.8 19.9 18.6 13.8 10.3 6.4 2.1 10.7
Source: Average temperatures at the measuring point in Dijon in 2008

Since the vineyard was created from an abundance of donations and purchases, several district names were known within the vineyard in the past. Examples are the climats la Vigne Blanche, les Petits-Vougeots, la Perrière, Les Cras ou Crais, aux Orveaux, aux Echezeaux, les Eschonay, le Quartier-d'Escoiles, du Porchier, le Pertuis-au-Cygne, Musigny-Melot , Devant-la-Maison, à la porte Saint-Martin, le Conroy des Echezeaux, la Combotte, le Quartier de Maire-au-Musigny, le Buchilier, aux Côtes, le Quartier du Rites and au Chatrel. In the 19th century only the climats Petit et Grand Maupertuis, Maret-Haut et Bas, Planté-l'Abbé, Garenne, Musigny-Chioures, Dix-Journaux, Quatorze-Journaux, Montiottes-Hautes et Basses and Baudes-Saint- Martin known. Later, the notion of the district name in Clos de Vougeot was completely abandoned, in contrast to other large Grand Cru locations.

Wine

As vine training in France is méthode Guyot espalier-type training called prescribed.

Clos de Vougeot's wine is usually made exclusively from Pinot noir . As more varieties are Pinot Liébault and Pinot Beurot admitted. In theory, up to 15% white grapes ( Chardonnay , Pinot gris and Pinot blanc ) can be used. The natural alcohol content must be at least 11.5  percent by volume. The chaptalization is - as everywhere in Burgundy - allowed. In the case of artificial enrichment with dry sugar, a maximum alcohol content of 14.5 ° is specified. The basic yield is 35 hectoliters per hectare per year, this may be exceeded by a maximum of 20%.

White wines may not be sold under the label of a Grand Cru, but are considered Vougeot Premier Cru . However, this right is not used for commercial reasons.

literature

Web links

Commons : Clos Vougeot  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ INAO: AOC regulations for the Clos de Vougeot location , last revision of the decree of March 26, 1998 (in French)
  2. ^ INAO: AOC regulations for Vougeot , last revision of the decree of March 26, 1998 (in French)