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“The wines from Bourgogne boast a longer history than any others.”

Here are some key dates in the long winegrowing history of Bourgogne, listed in chronological order.

312: Eumenes’ Discourses: oldest known documented reference.

1115: Clos de Vougeot Château built by monks from Cîteaux.

August 6, 1395: Duke Philip the Bold (1342-1404) publishes ordinance governing wine quality in Bourgogne.

1416: Edict of King Charles VI setting the boundaries of Bourgogne as a wine producing area (from Sens to Mâcon).

November 11, 1719: Creation of the oldest mutual assistance organisation, the "Société de Saint Vincent" in Volnay.

1720: Champy, Bourgogne's oldest merchant company was founded in Beaune and is still in business today.

1728: The first book devoted to the wines from Bourgogne, written by Father Claude Arnoux, is published in London.

July 18, 1760: Prince Conti (1717-1776) acquires the "Domaine de La Romanée", which now bears his name.

1789: French Revolution. Church-owned vineyards confiscated and auctioned off as national property.

October 17, 1847: King Louis-Philippe grants the village of Gevrey the right to add its name to its most famous Cru – Chambertin. Other villages were quick to follow suit.

1851: First auction of wines grown on the Hospices de Beaune estate.

1861: First classification of wines (of the Côte d'Or) by Beaune's Agricultural Committee.

June 15, 1875: Phylloxera first detected in Bourgogne (at Mancey, Saône-et-Loire).

1900: Creation of the Beaune Oenological Station. April 30, 1923: Founding of La Chablisienne, Bourgogne's first cooperative winery.

April 29, 1930: A ruling handed down by the Dijon civil courts legally defines to the boundaries of wine-growing Bourgogne (administrative regions of Yonne, Côte-d’O, and Saône-et-Loire, plus the Villefranche-sur-Saône area in the Rhône).

December 8, 1936: Morey-Saint-Denis becomes the first AOC in Bourgogne.

October 14, 1943: Creation of Premier Cru appellation category.

October 17, 1975: Crémant de Bourgogne attains AOC status.

Jully 17, 2006: Creation of Bourgogne's 100th appellation: “Bourgogne Tonnerre”.
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