Chambertin-Clos de Bèze is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée

Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée

Appellation d’origine contrôlée , which translates as "controlled designation of origin", is the French certification granted to certain French geographical indications for wines, cheeses, butters, and other agricultural products, all under the auspices of the government bureau Institut National...

(AOC) and Grand Cru vineyard

Vineyard

A vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice...

 for red wine in the Côte de Nuits

Côte de Nuits

The Côte de Nuits is a French wine region located in the northern part of the Côte d'Or, the limestone ridge that is at the heart of the Burgundy wine region. It extends from Dijon to just south of Nuits-Saint-Georges, which gives its name to the district and is the regional center...

 subregion of Burgundy

Burgundy wine

Burgundy wine is wine made in the Burgundy region in eastern France, in the valleys and slopes west of the Saône River, a tributary of the Rhône. The most famous wines produced here - those commonly referred to as "Burgundies" - are red wines made from Pinot Noir grapes or white wines made from...

, with Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir

Pinot noir is a black wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes...

 as the main grape variety. Chambertin-Clos de Bèze is located within the commune of Gevrey-Chambertin

Gevrey-Chambertin

Gevrey-Chambertin is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department of France in the Bourgogne region in eastern France.It lies 15 km South of Dijon. This touristic, winemaking village is situated on the Route des Grands Crus in the Côte de Nuits...

, together with a group of nine Grand Cru vineyards all having "Chambertin

Chambertin

Chambertin is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée and Grand Cru vineyard for red wine in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy, with Pinot Noir as the main grape variety. Chambertin is located within the commune of Gevrey-Chambertin, and it is situated approximately in the centre of a group of...

" as part of their name. It is located uphill from (to the west of) the Route des Grands Crus

Route des Grands Crus

The Route des Grands Crus is the name of a tourist route situated in Burgundy, France.The approximately 60-kilometre route runs along the foot of the Côte d'Or escarpment, from Dijon in the north to Santenay in the south. Thus it runs through many of the great appellations of Burgundy wine, hence...

, borders on Chambertin in the north, Griotte-Chambertin

Griotte-Chambertin

Griotte-Chambertin is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée and Grand Cru vineyard for red wine in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy, with Pinot Noir as the main grape variety. Griotte-Chambertin is located within the commune of Gevrey-Chambertin...

 and Chapelle-Chambertin

Chapelle-Chambertin

Chapelle-Chambertin is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée and Grand Cru vineyard for red wine in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy, with Pinot Noir as the main grape variety...

 in the east (across the road) and Mazis-Chambertin

Mazis-Chambertin

Mazis-Chambertin, sometimes written Mazy-Chambertin is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée and Grand Cru vineyard for red wine in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy, with Pinot Noir as the main grape variety. Mazis-Chambertin is located within the commune of Gevrey-Chambertin. It is situated...

 in the north. The AOC was created in 1937.

Under AOC regulations some wine from Chambertin-Clos de Bèze may be labeled

Wine label

Wine labels are important sources of information for consumers since they tell the type and origin of the wine. The label is often the only resource a buyer has for evaluating the wine before purchasing it...

 as just Chambertin. Since Chambertin-Clos de Bèze has a good reputation on its own, this is not widely practiced.

Wine style

As with most of Burgundy's vineyards, both Chambertin and Clos de Bèze have had numerous owners, twenty-three and eighteen respectively. Unfortunately, quality varies from producer to producer and, although Chambertin has been called "King of Wines", less accomplished winemakers do not always produce wines that fully live up to that reputation. The quality of wines from Clos de Bèze is considered higher and more consistent than those from Chambertin. The best wines from these two vineyards are quite powerful. They have concentrated fruit flavors, intense, rich, perfumed aromas, and long aging capabilities.

The slight difference between the two derives from the deeper sub-soil of Chambertin which makes those wines a little more brawny with slightly higher alcohol

Alcohol

In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....

 and tannin content than wines from the Clos de Bèze. From this grand cru the wines are expected to have some finesse to compensate for it relatively low body and be able to reach its peak between 12-30 years.

In general, Chambertin and Chambertin-Clos de Bèze are seen as one notch in quality above the other seven Grands Crus with "Chambertin" as part of their name. This is also reflected in a small difference in the allowed yield, where Chambertin and Chambertin-Clos de Bèze are restricted to a base yield of 35 hl/ha, while the other seven are allowed 37 hl/ha.

History

Around A.D.630, Algamaire, the Duke of Southern Burgundy, endowed the Abbey of Beze with some land in Gevrey in which the Cistercian nuns

Cistercian nuns

Cistercian nuns are female members of the Cistercian Order, a religious order belonging to the Roman Catholic branch of the Catholic Church.-History:...

 of Notre Dame de Tart first cultivated the land into a vineyard. Six centuries later, the field next to the abbey was bought by a peasant named Bertin and was called the Champs de Bertin, or "Bertin’s field". Bertin also planted vines on his field, and the name was soon shortened to Chambertin. In 1702 vigneron Claude Jobert acquired both vineyards uniting both Chambertin and Clos de Beze.

Production

In 2008, 14.67 hectares (36.3 acre) of vineyard surface was in production for Chambertin AOC, and 508 hectoliter of wine was produced under the Chambertin designation, corresponding to slightly under 68,000 bottles.

AOC regulations

The main grape variety for Chambertin-Clos de Bèze is Pinot Noir. The AOC regulations also allow up to 15 per cent total of Chardonnay

Chardonnay

Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is originated from the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand...

, Pinot Blanc

Pinot Blanc

Pinot blanc is a white wine grape. It is a point genetic mutation of Pinot noir. Pinot noir is genetically unstable and will occasionally experience a point mutation in which a vine bears all black fruit except for one cane which produced white fruit....

 and Pinot Gris

Pinot Gris

Pinot gris is a white wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. Thought to be a mutant clone of the Pinot noir grape, it normally has a grayish-blue fruit, accounting for its name but the grape can have a brownish pink to black and even white appearance...

 as accessory grapes, but this is practically never used for any Burgundy Grand Cru vineyard. The allowed base yield

Yield (wine)

In viticulture, the yield is a measure of the amount of grapes or wine that is produced per unit surface of vineyard, and is therefore a type of crop yield...

 is 35 hectoliter per hectare, a minimum planting density of 9,000 vines per hectare is required as well as a minimum grape maturity of 11.5 per cent potential alcohol.