A thousand years of monastic wine-growingBetween the 6th and the 14th century the wines of Burgundy acquired a reputation throughout Christendom. In those warlike times, religious communities were to some extent protected. It was possible to pass on knowledge derived from experience down the generations. And the monasteries belonged to a Europe-wide network.The abbeys of Cluny (founded 909) and Cîteaux (founded 1098) had thousands of offshoots. The wines of Cluny grown in the Mâconnais and Chalonnais and those of Cîteaux grown in the Côte d'Or, Chalonnais and Chablis districts demonstrate an astonishing continuity. The Clos de Bèze, had only two owners between its founding in 640 and the Revolution in 1790. The Clos de la Chaînette at Auxerre is even older. The Clos de Vougeot, founded in 1115, had only one owner between then and 1790, and the Clos de Tart only three owners from 1140 to the present day. Meanwhile, it was the Cistercians of Pontigny who created the Chablis vineyards. In Burgundy, memories are long. This period saw the emergence of the "clos" as units of property, of the notion of "terroir" and "cru", and the selection of grape varieties. Most existing appellations were already recognised and defined (as to area) in the Middle Ages and the "climat" nailed down to the nearest metre and its boundaries respected. No wine-growing region in the world is more closely regulated, or bound by rules of greater antiquity. Wine of the Golden Fleece
Historically, the recognition accorded to Burgundy wine and its acceptance as a marketable commodity is related to the fortunes of Burgundy itself. Thus it was in Burgundy's Golden Age under its independent dukes (14th and 15th centuries) that the wines of Burgundy began to make their mark in the wider world. Feasting played its part in diplomacy. At the famous Pheasant Banquet in Lille (1454), Burgundy wines flowed freely among the assembled grandees - the same wines that were associated with the chivalric Order of the Golden Fleece, created by Burgundy's Duke Philip the Good in 1429. Ducal BurgundyThe Dukes of Burgundy in the 14th and 15th centuries – offshoots of the French royal house of Valois – called themselves "Grand Dukes of the West and Lords of the finest wines in Christendom". They were arbiters of taste for the whole of Europe. Philip the Bold, John the Fearless, Philip the Good and Charles the Rash held sway in turn not only over Burgundy but over most of what is today Belgium (Antwerp, Bruges, Brussels, Ghent). But a large part of their fortunes came from their profits of their vineyards. (Hence the numerous "Clos des Ducs" we find today.)No longer confined to Roman or monastic cellars, or even to the cellars of the Avignon Popes, the wines of Burgundy took hold over civil society, and the upper and middle classes of Flanders took their cue from the tastes of the ducal court. Thus an active trade in wine developed between Burgundy and the Low Countries. The Dukes laid down a definite policy for wine-growing and wine-making, the first in history. The ordinance issued by Philip the Bold in 1395 was a model of its kind. It not only came down on the side of the Pinot Noir as opposed to the Gamay grape, it also set out the ecological principles on which high-quality wine-growing could be based, and it took into account the health of the consumer. The contest between the Gamay and the Pinot Noir is an old one. The upper classes favoured the Pinot in the interests of high quality, low yields, and its ability to travel (which made it exportable). The lower orders grew the higher-yielding Gamay which gave a ready-to-drink wine for a local market and quick returns to the producer. This division persisted into the 20th century. |
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