Cote d'Or
may be small in size but its influence is huge and its reputation alone can
strike terror into the heart of even the most seasoned wine professionals.
Cote d'Or is located in the very heart of Burgundy and stretches for a narrow
35-mile band. It's on this terroir that some of the world's best known wines
are produced.
There are
two main sections. Cote de Nuits, named after the village of
Nuits-Saint-Georges, is a mere one mile by 12 miles but it's home to 24 Grand
Cru vineyards and some of the world's most expensive vineyard real estate. This
is the northernmost region, starting just south of Dijon and running to
Courgoloin, a few kilometres south of Nuits-Saint-Georges and it grows mainly
Pinot Noir and other red grapes. It is responsible for some of the great names
of French wine, Gevrey-Chambertin, Nuits-Saint-Georges and Beaune itself. The
second part, the southerly Cote de Beaune, is well-known for its whites but
actually grows both Chardonnay and red grapes. One of the most famous villages
in the Cote de Beaune is Pommard, known for its heavy, full-bodied reds.
It's an
intimidating terroir but Raymond Blake's companionable Cote d'Or demystifies
it. There is hardly another wine region where knowledge of the back-story is so
critical to understanding the wine, for it is impossible to understand burgundy
without reference to the place it comes from and the people who make it. In Cote d'Or
Blake transports the reader to the heart of Burgundy, telling the whole story
and painting a complete picture of life there: the history, the culture, the
people, the place, the geography and the climate.
