Around the town of Nuits-Saint-Georges, in the south of Côte-d'Or, lies a Mecca for lovers of French wine: the Côte de Nuits wine region, which stretches for some twenty kilometres between Dijon and Corgoloin, on a narrow strip of slopes facing the Saône Valley. Boasting many grands crus and premiers crus, this famous terroir is home to the vines of the most prestigious estates in Burgundy. Among the most famous are those of Vosne-Romanée, Vougeot and Gevrey-Chambertin. In fact, between Vosne-Romanée and Gevrey-Chambertin is where the greatest red wines of the region are concentrated. Although it is the realm of Pinot Noir, the Côte de Nuits wine region also produces excellent white wines from the Chardonnay grape variety.
On the Grands Crus Route, which runs for about sixty kilometres through the Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune wine regions, you can discover the area's exceptional heritage. As you travel along this unmissable itinerary, you can see not only famous historical monuments, such as the Renaissance castle of Clos de Vougeot and the medieval fortified castle of Gevrey-Chambertin, but also a typical, traditional built heritage of dry stone walls and picturesque wine-growers' huts, known locally as cabottes.
The wines of Burgundy, and more specifically those of Côte de Nuits, are a precious legacy from the monks who worked the vineyards in the Middle Ages. The monks of Cîteaux Abbey developed the vineyard and were responsible for building the Clos de Vougeot in the 12th century. Since 1934, the Clos de Vougeot has been home to the Fraternity of the Knights of the Wine-Tasters' Cup, whose aim is to promote the products of Burgundy, particularly its great wines.
